Access for Everyone: Computing at Drexel, 1946-1984

On November 20, 1958, Drexel held a dedication ceremony for its new Computing Center, which featured a single IBM 650 computer. During the ceremony, the computer was pitted against human competitors in four-dimensional tic-tac-toe as a demonstration of its computing prowess. (The winner of this contest, unfortunately, has been lost to history.) But the Computing Center also had more practical uses. It was established to support three functions: education, faculty enrichment, and industrial and academic research. Drexel administrators foresaw an expanding role for computers in engineering and business, and hoped that all interested students and faculty would take advantage of the Computing Center for personal use and “interesting little studies.” The Center was a great source of pride for Drexel, and it was featured in promotional materials for prospective students.