He helped to develop programming languages and compilers and was an outspoken advocate of freely licensed open-source software.

He was also an enthusiastic amateur performer and musician, especially with the Village Light Opera Group in New York City.

[5][6][7] He was involved with developing international standards in programming and informatics, as a member of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) IFIP Working Group 2.1 (WG 2.1) on Algorithmic Languages and Calculi,[8] which specified, maintains, and supports the languages ALGOL 60 and ALGOL 68.

[13] In the 1980s, he was a principal author of the Realia COBOL compiler for the IBM PC,[6][14] today marketed by Computer Associates, and still widely used in commercial environments.

He influenced the design of the language ABC, in particular its SETL-style high-level data types, such as associative arrays.

He was an enthusiastic and valued member and benefactor of the Village Light Opera Group (VLOG) for 35 years, serving them in many capacities, from producer and president to music director, and on stage from Harem Guard to the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado.