UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) was the first mass-produced commercial computer. UNIVAC was the result of a collaborative effort between computer pioneers John Mauchly (1907-1980) and J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995). Their partnership in building advanced computers began in the early 1940s at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Engineering. At the Moore School, Mauchly and Eckert took lead roles in building ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer), the world's first general-purpose electronic computer, and its successor EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer), one of the first computers to implement the stored-program principle. The two men drew heavily on their experiences with ENIAC and EDVAC in the creation of UNIVAC.

In 1946 Mauchly and Eckert jointly applied for a patent for "the automatic, digital computer" (i.e., ENIAC). When the Moore School disputed their patent rights, they left to form the Electronic Control Company...