Gene M. Amdahl revolutionized business computing, first by developing the IBM System/360 series and later by founding his own companies, including the Amdahl Corporation and Trilogy Ltd., to compete with IBM through the production of "clone" computers and the ongoing development of cutting edge technology in mainframe systems.

Amdahl was born November 16, 1922, in Flandreau, South Dakota. The son of Anton E. Amdahl, a farmer, and Inga Brendsel Amdahl, he was the second youngest of five children. He spent his high school years first at a local school and then at a boarding school. Farm chores left him little time for other activities, although he did play some football (suffering a few broken ribs in the process). He entered South Dakota State College in 1941, but his academic career was interrupted by World War II. From the middle of 1943 to 1944 he taught physics for the U.S. Army, and then...