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“Visions of Tomorrow With Computers of Today”: UNC’s First Computer in 1959


UNC decided to acquire a UNIVAC 1105 from the Sperry-Rand Corporation in 1959 due to a 50% educational discount and being able to own the machine outright versus renting one from IBM. The computer weighed 19 tons and had an estimated value of $2.4 million, which, adjusting for inflation, would today be over $20 million. The Phillips Hall Annex was chosen to house the computer. (UNC.edu)

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