Bill Schelter
American mathematician and programmer
About Bill Schelter
Lived 1947 – 2001 (aged 53–54). Bill Schelter was an American engineer, mathematician, computer scientist and mathematics, known for Austin Kyoto Common Lisp, GNU C compiler and GNU Common Lisp.
William Frederick Schelter (1947 – July 30, 2001) was a professor of mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin and a Lisp developer and programmer. Schelter is credited with the development of the GNU Common Lisp (GCL) implementation of Common Lisp and the GPL'd version of the computer algebra system Macsyma called Maxima. Schelter authored Austin Kyoto Common Lisp (AKCL) under contract with IBM. AKCL formed the foundation for Axiom, another computer algebra system. AKCL eventually became GNU Common Lisp. He is also credited with the first port of the GNU C compiler to the Intel 386 architecture, used in the original implementation of the Linux kernel.
Schelter obtained his Ph.D. at McGill University in 1972. His mathematical specialties were noncommutative ring theory and computational algebra and its applications, including automated theorem proving in geometry.
In the summer of 2001, age 54, he died suddenly of a heart attack while traveling in Russia.
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Important facts
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Bill Schelter?
American mathematician and programmer
When was Bill Schelter born?
Bill Schelter was born in 1947 in Canada.
When did Bill Schelter die?
Bill Schelter died on 30 July 2001 in Russia.
What was Bill Schelter's occupation?
Bill Schelter was an engineer, mathematician, computer scientist and mathematics.
What was Bill Schelter known for?
Bill Schelter was known for Austin Kyoto Common Lisp, GNU C compiler, GNU Common Lisp and Maxima (software).
What nationality was Bill Schelter?
Bill Schelter was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Bill Schelter. https://biography.guide/bill-schelter/
MLA: "Bill Schelter." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/bill-schelter/.
Chicago: "Bill Schelter." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/bill-schelter/.
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