William C. Lowe
- Birthdate
- 1941/01/15
- Birthplace
- Easton, PA, USA
- Death date
- 2013/10/19
- Associated organizations
- IBM
- Fields of study
- Computing
Biography
William C. Lowe was born on January 15th, 1941, in Easton, PA and attended Lafayette College, earning his bachelors in physics. After graduation, he joined IBM in 1962 as a product test engineer. In 1980, he pitched a project to form a team that would build a personal computer in one year, using parts and software made by external companies. The result of this work was the IBM Personal Computer 5150, introduced on August 12th, 1981. The computer ran Microsoft's MS-DOS 1.0, used an Intel 8088 microprocessor, and was a massive commercial success.
Lowe became president of IBM's Entry Systems Division in 1985 and a corporate vice president in 1986. He left the company in 1988 to join Xerox with the intention of expanding its products beyond copy machines. In 1991, he became president of the Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation and later held executive positions at New England Business Services and the Moore Corporation.
Lowe died on October 19th, 2013 of a heart attack.
