Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut

Biography

Van de Snepscheut graduated from the Eindhoven University of Technology as an electrical engineer in 1977, with a thesis advised by Frans E. J. Krusman Aretz from the mathematics department. During this time, he also co-founded a microprocessor company, and he would later found a second. After working for a year at the University of Twente, he returned to Eindhoven, where he earned his PhD in 1983. He then spent a year visiting the California Institute of Technology before starting as faculty at the University of Groningen. In 1988, van de Snepscheut moved with his family back to Caltech, where he continued his research career and published his book, What Computing Is All About.

In the early morning hours of February 23, 1994, van de Snepscheut attacked his sleeping wife, Terre (elsewhere given as Trees), supposedly with an axe later found at the site. He then set their house on fire, and died as it burned around him. Terre and their three children, aged 14, 12, and 10, escaped their burning home.