Brian Reid (computer scientist)
Brian Keith Reid | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1949 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Maryland, College Park (BSc Physics, 1970); Carnegie Mellon University (PhD Computer Science, 1980) |
| Occupation | Computer scientist |
| Known for | Creation of early markup language (Scribe), work in computer networking and Internet development |
| Awards | ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award (1982), Presidential Young Investigator Award (1984) |
Brian Keith Reid (born 1949) is a prominent American computer scientist recognized for creating an early markup language in his 1980 doctoral thesis and for his influential work in computer networking and the Internet.
Education
Reid obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1970. After gaining industry experience, he completed his PhD in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in 1980. His dissertation introduced the Scribe word processing system, which earned him the prestigious Association for Computing Machinery's Grace Murray Hopper Award in 1982. Alongside IBM’s GML, a forerunner of SGML, Reid’s Scribe represented a key advancement in the evolution of markup languages.
Career
Between 1980 and 1987, Reid served as an assistant professor at Stanford University's computer systems laboratory, where he was honored with the Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1984. His research centered on Stanford's integration with the Internet and contributed to the development of the SUN workstation. As cyberattacks targeting Stanford escalated, he shifted focus toward exploring methods for network protection.
In 1987, Reid joined the Western Research Laboratory of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) located in Palo Alto. There, he co-created "Gatekeeper," an early corporate gateway to the Internet that laid groundwork for contemporary network firewalls. Notably, hackers like Kevin Mitnick exploited Reid’s identity to gain unauthorized access through social engineering.
Reid also played a significant role in electronic publishing through his work on the USENET Cookbook project and collaborated with John Gilmore to establish the influential alt.* hierarchy on Usenet. From 1986 until 1995, he produced comprehensive PostScript maps depicting USENET’s geographic distribution and traffic patterns.
By 1995, Reid was heading DEC's Network Systems Laboratory (NSL), which was responsible for building one of the largest Internet exchange points during the commercialization phase of the Internet. Under his leadership, NSL employed notable innovators such as Anita Borg, founder of the group Systers and organizer of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Both DEC NSL and WRL contributed to developing AltaVista, one of the earliest web search engines.
In 1998, Reid delivered a keynote presentation reviewing two decades of progress in markup technology. He departed DEC in 1999 to join Bell Labs’ Silicon Valley facility until its closure and subsequently took up a teaching position at Carnegie Mellon’s Silicon Valley campus in 2001.
Reid joined Google as director of operations in June 2002. The sole written endorsement he received came from Wayne Rosing, who spoke positively about his contributions. By October 2003, Reid was reassigned to a program lacking both funding and personnel, with his former duties transferred to Urs Hölzle, who was notably fifteen years his junior. In February 2004, shortly before Google's initial public offering (IPO), Reid was dismissed by Larry Page, who cited that he was not a "cultural fit" and described his ideas as "too old to matter," according to Reid’s account. This termination reportedly resulted in Reid losing access to 119,000 stock options priced at $0.30 each, which would have been valued near $10 million based on the $85 IPO price. Reid estimated that his unvested options might have been worth upwards of $45 million had he remained with the company.
Legal dispute
In July 2004, Reid initiated legal action against Google, alleging discrimination based on age and disability following his diagnosis with diabetes during his tenure at the company. Google responded by citing issues related to cultural compatibility as a defense.
The Santa Clara Superior Court ruled against Reid through a summary judgment in September 2005. This ruling was later reversed in October 2007 by the California Sixth District Court of Appeal, which permitted the lawsuit to move forward. Subsequently, Google petitioned the California Supreme Court, which agreed to examine the case in February 2008.
Judicial examination
The court's review centered on two principal questions: (1) whether employees may bring claims for hostile "stray remarks" made by coworkers who lack decision-making authority in discrimination lawsuits; and (2) whether failure of the trial court to rule on evidence objections, despite oral requests, results in waiver of those objections at summary judgment. Following detailed briefing and additional submissions, oral arguments took place in May 2010.
On August 5, 2010, Justice Ming Chin delivered the opinion upholding the appellate court’s ruling in favor of Reid and remanding for further action. The court declined to adopt the "stray remarks" doctrine proposed by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, instead holding that comments from non-decisionmakers can constitute circumstantial evidence of discrimination since hostile coworkers may influence supervisory decisions. Furthermore, objections to evidence made in writing are preserved on appeal regardless of whether the trial court ruled on them or if they were raised during oral argument. Consequently, while Google succeeded on procedural grounds, Reid prevailed on substantive issues, enabling a wider range of evidence regarding alleged discriminatory conduct to be introduced.
This case attracted considerable media interest, with AARP submitting briefs supporting Reid and the California Employment Law Council advocating for Google. Ultimately, the dispute was resolved through an out-of-court settlement under confidential terms.
Between 2005 and 2019, Reid occupied multiple leadership positions at the Internet Systems Consortium, including roles overseeing engineering, operations, and communications.
Personal background
Reid is passionate about photography and has been a sponsor of the Leica User's Group discussion forum for nearly twenty years.
He practices Anglicanism, serves as president of the Society of Archbishop Justus, edits Anglicans Online, and has been a board member at Doane Academy, an Episcopal Pre K-12 institution located in New Jersey.