French computer scientist who helped develop the Ada computer language, a programming language that won a U.S. Department of Defense contest in the 1970s. Searching for a single language to replace over 2000 then in use in a variety of Defense Department applications, Ichbiah lead the group that produced Ada, named for Lady Ada Lovelace. Ada has subsequently been released to the public and is considered by many a powerful and easily learned high-level language.