Zsolt Náray

From 1949 to 1952 he was an assistant professor at the Physics Institute of the Hungarian University of Technology. From 1952 he was a scientific associate at the Central Physical Research Institute (KFKI) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, then deputy head of the Cosmic Radiation Department. Between 1958 and 1959 he was a fellow of the French Center National de la Recherche Scientifique and an assistant professor at the Physics Institute of the University of Zurich.

From 1959 he was the head of the Physical Optics Research Laboratory and the Electronics Department of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and from 1963 to 1969 he was the deputy director of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 1964 he obtained the title of Candidate of Physical Sciences. From 1967 he was an honorary associate professor of the Hungarian University of Technology.

From 1968 he was the Hungarian chief designer of the Unified Computer System (ESZR). He accepted this position on the condition that a high-quality professional staff would be available. Thus, in 1969 he founded the Computer Coordination Institute (SZKI), of which he was the director general until his retirement in 1992.

In addition to coordinating the research and development activities in the country as the main designer, SZKI also carried out its own computer developments (the R10, R12, R15, the M05X, M08X and the Proper computer family). It was also at the forefront of the domestic localization of new IT technologies (time-sharing mainframes, terminal rooms and remote terminals), as well as its own developments (implementation of a logic programming language, computer-aided automated design, handwriting recognition, etc.).

He obtained his doctorate in physics in 1970. In 1972, he became an honorary professor at BME. A memorial plaque commemorates his face on the wall of the former headquarters of the SZKI.

His awards: Imre Bródy Prize (Eötvös Loránd Physical Society, 1955); Kossuth Prize for achievements in the development of nuclear physics measurement technology (1963); Academic Prize, 1st degree (1965); State Prize for the foundation of Hungarian computer technology (1983).