Willis H. Ware

Willis H. Ware was an American computer engineer whose career included early electronic computing, long service at RAND, and foundational work on computer security and privacy. He joined RAND in 1952 and worked there for more than five decades.

The Ware Report

Ware chaired the Defense Science Board task force whose 1970 report, Security Controls for Computer Systems, considered safeguards for multi-user, resource-sharing systems. The report is a primary document in the early history of secure-system design.

Privacy and public service

Ware also worked on the implications of computing for privacy. RAND records describe his leadership on committees concerned with computer users' privacy rights, linking technical change with questions of governance and civil liberties.

In memoriam

Ware's work remains a historical reference for the proposition that shared computing requires deliberate security controls and public accountability.

Timeline

• 1946Begins work at the Institute for Advanced Study on early electronic computing.
• 1952Joins RAND and helps build the JOHNNIAC computer.
• 1970The Defense Science Board task force report Security Controls for Computer Systems is issued.
• 2013Dies; RAND records his passing and career as a computer pioneer.