Neil Pappalardo has died. Sixty years ago, with Curt Marble and others, Neil created MUMPS*. To this day, MUMPS software technology, or one of its derivatives, drives the majority of hospital information systems.
I was fortunate to have started working for the great man when the company was small enough that Neil knew every employee. He was incredibly supportive of me through two extremely difficult crises; one medical (detached retina), and one financial (the mortgage underwriting fiasco).
The last time I met with Neil personally, I was both flattered and stunned when he told me, “I know what you’ve been working on. Keep it up. You have a job here for as long as you want one.”
This video will start with Neil talking about a class he took at MIT. The instructor was Amar Bose.
* Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System