author
Grady Ward
b. 1951
Best known for building the huge public-domain Moby Project, this American software engineer and lexicographer has spent decades working at the crossroads of language, technology, and free expression. His career ranges from Apple programming to internet-era activism, giving his work an unusual mix of technical precision and public-minded curiosity.
1 Audiobook
Moby Hyphenation List
by Grady Ward
About the author
Born on April 4, 1951, William Grady Ward is an American software engineer, lexicographer, and internet activist. He is especially known for creating the Moby Project, a large collection of English-language lexical resources that he released into the public domain in 1996.
The Moby Project became widely influential in digital language work. Its best-known component, Moby Thesaurus, was described as the largest thesaurus in the English language in the mid-2000s, and the project as a whole helped make high-quality word data freely available to programmers, writers, and researchers.
Ward was also active in early internet free-speech battles and became a prominent figure in the Scientology-versus-the-Internet controversy. Alongside that public role, he had an earlier career as a systems programmer at Apple, a background that helps explain the practical, builder's mindset behind his language projects.