Dertouzos was born in
Athens, Greece. His father was an admiral in the Greek navy and the young Dertouzos often accompanied him aboard destroyers and submarines. This experience cultivated his interest in technology so that he learned
Morse code, shipboard machinery, and mathematics at an early age. When he was 16, he came across
Claude Shannon's work on
information theory and MIT's attempt to build a mechanical mouse robot; these were said to have driven him to study in the university. Dertouzos completed his bachelor's and master's degrees at the
University of Arkansas in 1957 and 1959. He earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from MIT in 1964. == Career ==