# PARC

> company

**Wikidata**: [Q750428](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q750428)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARC_(company))  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/parc

## Summary
PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) is a research and development company founded in 1970 by Jack Goldman in Palo Alto, California. Originally established as a division of Xerox, it is renowned for pioneering foundational technologies in personal computing, including the graphical user interface (GUI), Ethernet, object-oriented programming (Smalltalk), and laser printing.

## Key Facts
- **Founded:** 1970
- **Founder:** Jack Goldman
- **Headquarters:** Palo Alto, California, United States
- **Parent Organization:** Xerox
- **Industry:** Research and development (NACE 72), Computer industry
- **Key Technologies Developed:** Smalltalk (programming language), Mesa (programming language), Interpress (page description language), Xerox NoteTaker (portable computer)
- **Notable Inventions:** Ethernet, Graphical User Interface (GUI), Laser printing, Object-oriented programming concepts
- **Website:** http://www.parc.com
- **Aliases:** Xerox PARC, Palo Alto Research Center, Inc., Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
- **Wikidata ID:** Q4830453

## FAQs
**What technologies were invented at PARC?**
PARC is credited with developing the Smalltalk programming language, the Interpress and Mesa programming languages, and the Xerox NoteTaker portable computer prototype. It was also the site where Ethernet, the graphical user interface (GUI), and laser printing were pioneered.

**Who founded PARC and when?**
PARC was founded in 1970 by Jack Goldman as the Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated, serving as the research and development division for Xerox.

**Where is PARC located?**
PARC is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, within the United States.

**What is the relationship between PARC and Xerox?**
PARC was established as a subsidiary and research division of Xerox, with Xerox acting as its parent organization.

**Who are some notable computer scientists associated with PARC?**
Notable figures include Alan Kay (Smalltalk), Butler Lampson and Charles P. Thacker (Alto computer), Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs (Ethernet), John Warnock and Charles Geschke (PostScript), and Robert Taylor (leadership).

## Why It Matters
PARC matters because it served as the incubator for the technologies that define the modern digital world. Its researchers developed the Alto computer, which introduced the graphical user interface, bitmapped displays, and the mouse—concepts that directly inspired the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows. The invention of Ethernet at PARC established the standard for local area networking, enabling the connectivity required for the internet. Furthermore, the creation of the Smalltalk programming language laid the groundwork for object-oriented programming, influencing languages like Java and Python. Even document management was transformed through the development of Interpress and PostScript, which led to the PDF format and desktop publishing. The lab's output fundamentally shifted computing from mainframes to interactive, networked personal environments.

## Notable For
- Pioneering the graphical user interface (GUI) and the mouse-driven computer model.
- Inventing Ethernet, the dominant technology for local area networks.
- Creating Smalltalk, the first dynamically typed object-oriented programming language.
- Developing the Alto, recognized as the first practical networked personal computer.
- Establishing the field of laser printing and modern page description languages (Interpress, PostScript).
- Serving as the workplace for a high concentration of Turing Award winners and industry pioneers.

## Body

### Founding and Corporate Identity
PARC, an acronym for Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated, was founded in 1970 by Jack Goldman. It operates as a company within the business and research and development sectors (specifically classified under NACE 72). The organization is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States, and functions as a subsidiary of its parent organization, Xerox. Xerox, founded in 1906, is an American document management corporation that established PARC to advance the field of office technology and computing. According to source data regarding the parent company, Xerox was acquired by Lexmark in 2003, and Lexmark later rebranded as Xerox in 2006.

### Programming Languages and Software
PARC has been responsible for the creation of several influential programming languages and software systems.
*   **Smalltalk:** Developed by Alan Kay, Adele Goldberg, Dan Ingalls, and others, Smalltalk is a class-based, object-oriented programming language created in 1972. It pioneered modern graphical user interfaces and object-oriented programming concepts, influencing later languages like Java, Objective-C, and Python.
*   **Mesa:** A procedural programming language developed at PARC with an inception date of 1976. Mesa utilizes strong, static typing and is influenced by the ALGOL family. A stable release, Mesa 6.0 (Version 41), was documented in July 1981.
*   **Interpress:** A page description language developed by PARC designed to describe the appearance of printed pages at a higher level than bitmap output. It holds a Library of Congress Authority ID (sh88000582) and is recognized as a foundational development in document formatting.

### Hardware and Systems Architecture
The center's hardware innovations laid the physical groundwork for personal computing.
*   **Xerox NoteTaker:** A portable computer prototype developed at PARC.
*   **Alto Computer:** While not a separate entity entry in this context, the work of personnel like Butler Lampson and Charles P. Thacker at PARC focused heavily on the Alto. Described as the first practical networked computer, the Alto featured a bitmapped display and mouse, earning the Charles Stark Draper Prize for its creators.
*   **Laser Printing:** PARC is credited with the development of laser printing technology, which revolutionized office document production.

### Networking and Internet Protocols
PARC researchers made foundational contributions to networking that underpin the modern internet.
*   **Ethernet:** Invented by Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs at PARC in 1973, Ethernet became the foundational technology for local area networks (LANs). Metcalfe also formulated "Metcalfe's Law" regarding network value.
*   **Internet Protocols:** Steve Deering contributed to the development of IP Multicast and IP version 6 (IPv6) while at PARC. Lixia Zhang co-developed the Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) and contributed to congestion control standards (RFC 2309). Scott Shenker developed fair queueing algorithms and contributed to software-defined networking (SDN).

### Human-Computer Interaction and Social Sciences
Beyond hardware and code, PARC advanced the understanding of how humans interact with technology.
*   **Ethnomethodology and HCI:** Lucy Suchman conducted pioneering ethnographic studies at PARC (1980–2000), authoring *Plans and Situated Actions* (1987), which challenged AI assumptions and emphasized situated action in user interface design.
*   **Diversity in Tech:** Anita Borg, a computer scientist who worked at PARC (1997–2003), founded the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, significantly advancing gender diversity in the tech field.

### Notable Personnel and Alumni
PARC has employed a vast array of influential computer scientists and engineers.
*   **Programming and Systems:** Alan Kay (Smalltalk, Dynabook), Adele Goldberg (Smalltalk), Dan Ingalls (Smalltalk, GUI), Daniel G. Bobrow (Interlisp), Niklaus Wirth (Pascal, Modula-2, Oberon), Lynn Conway (VLSI design, Conway's Law), Frances Yao (Energy-efficient computing).
*   **Hardware and Networking:** Butler Lampson (Allo, systems), Charles P. Thacker (Alto, hardware), Robert Metcalfe (Ethernet), David Boggs (Ethernet), Gary Starkweather (Inventor/Engineer), William English (Computer engineer).
*   **Internet and Protocols:** Steve Deering (IPv6, Multicast), Lixia Zhang (RSVP, Internet architecture), Scott Shenker (Internet architecture, SDN).
*   **HCI and Social Science:** Lucy Suchman (Sociology, HCI), Elizabeth F. Churchill (Psychologist), Anita Borg (Computer scientist, diversity advocate).
*   **Business and Entrepreneurship:** John Warnock and Charles Geschke (Co-founders of Adobe, developers of PostScript/PDF), Bertrand Serlet (Computer scientist).
*   **Other Notable Figures:** Robert Taylor (Computer scientist, leadership), Mark Weiser (Computer scientist, ubiquitous computing), Nina Amenta (Computational geometry), Ed H. Chi (Human-computer interaction), Valeria de Paiva (Mathematician, logician).

### Legacy and Recognition
The work conducted at PARC has been recognized with the highest honors in the field, including multiple Turing Awards (Alan Kay, Butler Lampson, Charles P. Thacker, Robert Metcalfe) and National Medals of Technology. The organization continues to operate as an independent entity following its corporate separation from Xerox, maintaining a focus on commercializing technological innovations.

## References

1. [GRID](https://www.grid.ac/institutes/grid.482243.b)
2. [Jacob Goldman, Founder of Xerox Lab, Dies at 90. 2011](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/business/jacob-e-goldman-founder-of-xerox-lab-dies-at-90.html)
3. Virtual International Authority File
4. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
5. [Source](http://www.parc.com:80/about/history/)
6. BBC Things
7. [Source](http://km.aifb.kit.edu/services/crunchbase/)
8. GRID Release 2017-04-04
9. Quora
10. Aligned ISNI and Ringgold identifiers for institutions
11. Microsoft Academic Knowledge Graph