born April 9, 1919, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.
died June 3, 1995, Bryn Mawr, Pa.
U.S. engineer.
He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1946 he and John W. Mauchly built a digital computer, the ENIAC , which contained a primitive form of the circuitry used in present-day high-speed computers. In 1949 they introduced the BINAC (Binary Automatic Computer). Their third model, UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer), found many uses in commerce. Eckert received 85 patents and in 1969 was awarded the National Medal of Science.