The Adhoc Committee on the Supraregional Research Program in Computer Science of the Federal Ministry of Education and Science recommended the founding of the Chair of Computer Science IV (Operating Systems) in its meeting on March 18, 1970, which was then created by the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs in the same year.
On July 1, 1972, the chair was established with the appointment of Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Fridolin Hofmann.
The initial research focus was on the development of operating systems for memory-coupled multi-computer systems and related aspects.
In 1976, a three-processor system with shared memory was installed, which created the apparative prerequisites to start the first implementations of operating systems.
Two years later, resarch projects tried to adapt the operating system UNIX to the needs of multiprocessor and network configurations, which illustrates the chairs focus on the research fields multiprocessor systems and distributed systems. This focus (with a contemporary update to many-core systems) is still important to the chair, which has been under the direction of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Wolfgang Schröder-Preikschat since 2002.
To celebrate the anniversary, the fall meeting of the GIOperating Systems Group will be held in Erlangen on September 19 and 20, including an anniversary event with a look back and forward (as it was the case for the 30th and 40th anniversaries).
