IBM Fellow program is probably the oldest, initiated in 1962 and with first appointments in 1963. Reading the list of IBM Fellows one quickly notices some well known names that some people might not even recognize as IBMers :)
> notices some well known names that some people might not even recognize as IBMers
Looking through the list (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Fellow), some random names I recognize: Frances E. Allen, Gene Amdahl, John Backus, Kenneth E. Iverson, and Benoît Mandelbrot (!).
Pretty neat to see how one company was the hub for so many skilled people in the past (similar to Bell Labs and Xerox PARC). I wonder what that hub is today. Google or MSR?
