ILLIAC I (the second of two computers) was the brainchild of Abraham H. Taub (a psysicist) and became operational in 1952.
It was the second of two identical computers, the first of which was ORDVAC, also built at the University of Illinois. The project was the brainchild of Ralph Meagher and Abraham H. Taub, who both were associated with Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study before coming to the University of Illinois. Abraham Haskel Taub (/tb/; February 1, 1911  August 9, 1999) was a distinguished American mathematician and physicist, well known for his important contributions to the early development of general relativity, as well as differential geometry and differential equations. The ILLIAC I became operational on September 1, 1952. 
