John von Neumann was born a child prodigy. Allegedly, by the age of eight he could already do division of eight digit numbers in his head. During his early education, he enrolled in the University of Budapest in 1921, where his major study area was chemistry, although he did not finish his degree because he moved to both Berlin and later Zurich before completing his studies. When he moved he also changed his major and in 1925, received his diploma in Chemical Engineering. Following his degree he went on to receive his doctorate in mathematics. 

He was invited to work at Princeton University in the United States, where he was appointed to be one of the six original Professors of Mathematics, a role he would keep throughout his life. The war saw Neumann handling many top positions in several organizations throughout the nation and thus working as a 'conduit' between the many groups of scientists who would have otherwise been isolated from each other. Around the same time, Neumann had taken up a keen interest in computers and their applications, although he saw them as strictly for the use of mathematics. Later on several 'supercomputers' were built by National Laboratories as copies of his. The structure of the computers now known as the 'von Neumann Architecture' are all credited to him. In honor of Neumann, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers have established an annual award in his name; the John von Neumann medal was created in 1990 and is given "for outstanding achievements in computer-related science and technology".

Additional information:

http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/VonNeumann.html

Photo courtesy of:

http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/vonNeumann.GIF