Dr. Erna Schneider Hoover invented a method for prioritizing processes within stored program controlswitching systems while working at Bell Laboratories. This method gave priority to processes that were concerned with in the input and output of the switch over processes that were less important such as record keeping and billing. This allowed for more robust service to callers during peak load times.
The patent on the system is one of the first software patents ever issued (Patent #3,623,007, Nov. 23, 1971) and the principles of the system are still in use today. The invention earned her a position as the first female supervisor of a technical department at Bell Labs.
Hoover had a B.A. with in medieval history from Wellesley College, and later a Ph.D. in the philosophy and foundations of mathematics from Yale University.
Born June 19, 1926, in Irvington, New Jersey, ErnaSchneider and her younger siblings, a brother who died from polio at age five, and a sister, were raised by their dentist father and former teacher mother in South Orange, where Hoover attended public school.
Hoover went on to teach philosophy and logic at Swarthmore College until 1954, when she joined Bell Laboratories as a senior technical associate.
The application was made in 1967, while Hoover was on maternity leave, and the patent lawyers had to bring the papers to her home for a signature.
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