Charlotte Froese Fischer

Charlotte Froese Fischer (1929-2024)

Most of us know about some famous Canadians, such as athletes (Wayne Gretzky), singers (Celine Dion), and actors (William Shatner). But scientists and mathematicians?

That's why the 2024-Mar-28 article on Charlotte Froese Fischer in the Globe and Mail newspaper is extremely interesting. She was an applied mathematician, computer scientist, and physicist, and used one of the earliest electronic computers, the EDSAC, at Cambridge University in the UK in the mid-1950's. She left a wonderful legacy to the world of math and science.

But what made this article especially relevant to me is that Charlotte grew up less than one mile from where I did, probably attended the same elementary school (but 2 decades earlier), and had attended the same church. One of her brothers was pastor at our church for a few years, another brother was my Dad's employer for a few years, and her youngest brother was in my high school graduation class. One of my second cousins had Dr. Fischer as his professor for five courses at UBC. Yet, although I must have heard her name mentioned occasionally over the past 65+ years, I didn't really know who she was until I read that article in June 2024. And, unfortunately, I don't remember ever meeting her.

Charlotte's husband, Patrick Fischer, was also a computer scientist and professor.

Her brother, Edgar Froese, also worked with several early computers, including the ALWAC III‐E at UBC.

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