Michael J. Flynn
May 20, 1034-Dec. 24, 2025
Palo Alto, California
Michael John Flynn died peacefully on December 24, 2025, with family at his side. He was 91 years old. Michael is predeceased by his beloved wife, Patricia (2023), and daughter, Theresa (2018). He leaves behind his son Frank (Kirsten), his daughters Kathleen and Margaret (Don Evans), nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, his youngest brother Thomas Flynn, and so many nieces, nephews and cousins. He will be dearly missed by family, colleagues, students and friends.
Michael was born May 20, 1934 in Jamaica, New York, the firstborn of Anne and Martin Flynn. He attended St. Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Academy Elementary School in Jamaica and Bishop Laughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn, New York. Michael married Patricia Ann Flynn (née O’Neil) of Bellaire, New York on June 29, 1957.
Michael earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Manhattan College (1955), Syracuse University (1960), and Purdue University (1961), respectively, and he received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Trinity College Dublin (1998). After ten years as a design engineer and project manager at IBM, he became a member of the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago (1965-1966), Northwestern University (1966-1970), and Johns Hopkins University (1970-1975) before joining Stanford University in 1975 as Professor of Electrical Engineering. He also taught internationally in Ireland, Europe, Singapore, and Japan.
Michael was a respected computer architect. As a young IBM project manager, Flynn was responsible for the design of the well-known IBM System 360. The System 360 is widely recognized as revolutionizing computing during that time. Indeed, many of the high-performance computing techniques developed by Flynn and his IBM colleagues are used throughout the industry today. Flynn also was the first to shed light on the performance potential and limitations of parallel computers with what’s become known as Flynn’s classification (or Flynn’s taxonomy), a pioneering framework for categorizing parallelism in computer architectures.
In 1972, Flynn co-founded Palyn Associates in Saratoga, CA, which provided consulting services in the field of high-performance computer architecture and design.
As a renowned professor at Stanford, where he transitioned to emeritus status after his retirement in 1999, Flynn made seminal contributions to the field of computer architecture. An IEEE Fellow, ACM Fellow, and Fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, Flynn received numerous other honors and awards for his impactful technical contributions, including the ACM/IEEE Eckert-Mauchly Award (1992), IEEE Computer Society Harry Goode Memorial Award and Medal (1995), and the Tesla Award and Medal from the International Tesla Society, Belgrade (1998), IEEE CS Charles Babbage Award, IEEE CS Computer Pioneer Award (2015).
For a lucky few- he was a friend. he was a mentor, he was dad, “pop-pops,” great-grandpa, brother and uncle. We remember gatherings at Mike’s home, where colleagues, family, and students from all over the world mingled under Mike’s wisteria. He traveled to explore the world and to build connections. He especially enjoyed visits with his extended family in the west of Ireland, from where Mike’s mother and father had immigrated.
During long hikes through Foothill Park, Big Basin or the Taughannock Falls N.Y., Mike could name every birdsong, tree, and flower (and in Latin). Having grown up in an urban setting, Mike believed in the value of open space and the beauty of all kinds of gardens. He cherished the peace and healing nature could bring to us in these settings. He cultivated and tended his own personal garden well into his 80s, the beauty and serenity of which we all enjoyed. He believed his best creative ideas came to him while tending his roses.
Tags: teacher/educator
