Interviewed by Tom Burniece, on May 02, 2018 in Colorado Springs, Colorado,
© Computer History Museum
Ellen Lary’s oral history traces a remarkable career path from science educator to senior technology executive at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Raised near Buffalo, New York, and initially trained as a chemistry teacher, Lary returned to academia in the 1970s to pursue advanced degrees in engineering, computer science, and operations research at Syracuse University while raising young children. Her doctoral work involved programming and performance analysis on the STARAN associative array processor, placing her at the forefront of early high-performance and database research.
After work at Bell Labs, she joined DEC in Colorado Springs, where she helped build advanced database and distributed systems groups and played a key role in pioneering multimedia and AI-adjacent technologies, including the influential DIDDLY project. Lary later transitioned into storage systems leadership, ultimately becoming one of DEC’s few female vice presidents, overseeing major StorageWorks initiatives and mentoring teams during a period of significant organizational and technological change.
- Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information – http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102738785
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum’s Oral Histories Collection.
Catalog number: 102738786
Acquisition: X8614.2018
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