About Sandy Douglas
Alexander Shafto "Sandy" Douglas (May 21, 1921 – April 29, 2010) was a British programmer, computer science professor and video game designer. He is best known for creating OXO, the first graphical computer game, on the EDSAC computer at the University of Cambridge in 1952. Designed to simulate a game of tic-tac-toe, OXO was the earliest game to display visuals on an electronic screen. In 1957, Douglas founded the Electronic Computing Laboratory at the University of Leeds, one of the earliest computer science departments in the United Kingdom. == Early life and education == Douglas was born in London on May 21, 1921 to Quentin Douglas, a Major in the Royal Corps of Engineers, and Edith Dorothy Ingram. At the age of eight, his family relocated to Cromwell Road, near what would become the West London Air Terminal. At the start of World War II, Douglas joined the United Kingdom's Home Guard, and was assigned to the "C" Company of the Chelsea and Kensington Battalion, part of the King's Royal Rifle Corps. During the Blitz, Douglas' unit was headquartered in the basement of the Royal School of Mines on Exhibition Road. The London Gazette reported that Douglas had commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers on March 7, 1943 as a Second Lieutenant, but this was later corrected to show that he actually commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals. In 1950, Douglas attended the University of Cambridge and began working towards earning his Ph.D. In 1952, he wrote a doctoral thesis that focused on human–computer interactions.
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