Inventors and Innovators: Ward Cunningham

Ward Cunningham Download image

Purdue graduates continue to develop innovations and breakthroughs that help move the world forward. Purdue Today will highlight these inventors and innovators by featuring two each month in the Purdue Today newsletter and on social media.

First up this month is Wiki pioneer Ward Cunningham.

Cunningham wrote the first Wiki application. A pioneer in both design patterns and extreme programming, he started programming the software WikiWikiWeb in 1994.

Cunningham called Wiki "the simplest online database that could possibly work." Wikis quickly caught on as a means for collaboratively creating, vetting and maintaining online documents, its application made famous by Wikipedia.

For more on Cunningham, visit the Inventors & Innovators website. 

The Inventors & Innovators website contains Purdue alumni from business and industry; technology; medicine and health; and the food and consumer industries.