Photo: Luca Lucarini / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Born on July 16, 1951, Dan Bricklin is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Dan Bricklin is credited as a computer scientist, entrepreneur and inventor. That works out to 75 years old in 2026. Education on record includes Harvard University. Awards on record include Grace Murray Hopper Award (1981), Computer History Museum Fellow (2004), ACM Software System Award (1985) and 3 more.
My Take
Dan Bricklin earned a permanent place in computing history by co-creating VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program, and I genuinely think he changed what personal computers were for. Before VisiCalc the PC was a hobbyist's toy; after it, the machine became indispensable to business, and the entire spreadsheet lineage that runs through Excel traces back to his idea. What I admire most is that this Harvard-trained inventor chose to share the concept rather than lock it behind patents, an openness that helped a whole industry bloom. He remains active in technology decades later, and I rank him among the very few people who can claim to have actually rewired how the world works.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Dan Bricklin
- Name (Japanese)
- ダン・ブリックリン
- Reading
- だん・ぶりっくりん
- Born
- July 16, 1951 (age 75)
- Origin
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Occupation
- computer scientist / entrepreneur / inventor / programmer / engineer
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Rabbit
2. Background
- University
- Harvard University
Awards & achievements
- 1981 Grace Murray Hopper Award
- 2004 Computer History Museum Fellow
- 1985 ACM Software System Award
- 1994 ACM Fellow
- 2023 Computer Pioneer Award
- 2001 Washington Award
3. Works & records
Filmography / notable works
| Category | Title |
|---|---|
| Notable work | VisiCalc |
4. Links
- Official sitehttp://www.bricklin.com/
- Xhttps://x.com/DanB
- Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan%20Bricklin
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%80%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%96%E3%83%AA%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AA%E3%83%B3
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q92624
5. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Dan Bricklin born?
Dan Bricklin was born on July 16, 1951 and is 75 years old.
Where is Dan Bricklin from?
Dan Bricklin is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
What does Dan Bricklin do?
Dan Bricklin works as computer scientist, entrepreneur, inventor, programmer, engineer.
Where did Dan Bricklin study?
Dan Bricklin attended Harvard University.
What is Dan Bricklin known for?
Dan Bricklin's notable works include VisiCalc.
Computer scientist — see all → · Entrepreneur — see all → · More people from the United States → · More people born on July 16 →