Horst, Robert

1998 Distinguished Alumni Award

In recognition of his pioneering contributions to fault-tolerant computer architecture.

Robert Horst (MSEE ’78) is technical director of Compaq Tandem Labs and chief technical officer of the ServerNet Business Unit in Cupertino, CA. He is also the inventor of ServerNet, the first of a class of high-speed networks called “system area networks” or SANs. For two consecutive years, ServerNet was selected by Information Week magazine as among the 10 most significant products in the information technology industry. Horst is credited with several pioneering contributions in the architecture and fault tolerance fields. After spending 15 years in industry, Horst returned to the U of I for his PhD in computer science, spending 10 years as a full-time student while continuing to work part-time as a Tandem consultant.