Transformational Education > New technologies
Dan Bricklin celebrated
In June 1999, HBS commemorated Dan Bricklin's world-changing invention with a special ceremony: the installation of a commemorative plaque on the wall of Aldrich 108. "In this room in 1978," the plaque read, "Dan Bricklin conceived of the first spreadsheet program. VisiCalc, original 'killer app' of the information age, forever changed how people use computers in business."
"We don't make a habit of hanging plaques like this around campus," Dean Kim B. Clark told a gathering of Bricklin's colleagues, friends, and family as he unveiled the shiny brass tablet. But an exception was made in this case, Clark continued, because "the objective of what we do in these rooms is to transform students' lives so they can transform the lives of others." Bricklin's invention of the first electronic spreadsheet, said Clark, exemplifies this ideal.
In response, Bricklin gave a brief speech in which he thanked a number of people for their support over the years, singling out his parents for special mention. "A printer by trade, my father taught me the importance of prototyping," Bricklin noted. "If you run a printing job, and it has a mistake in it, the customer won't pay. Being able to make last-minute changes is certainly a key concept in a spreadsheet."