# Dennis Ritchie American computer scientist who, with [[wiki/Ken Thompson|Ken Thompson]], created [[wiki/Unix|Unix]] and the [[wiki/C Programming Language|C programming language]] at [[wiki/Bell Labs|Bell Labs]]. The C language became the foundational systems programming language, and Unix's descendants now run virtually every server and most devices on Earth. Ritchie's work represents one of the most consequential individual contributions to computing infrastructure, traced in [[articles/Bell Labs and the Distributed Architecture of American Power|Bell Labs and the Distributed Architecture of American Power]].