Search

Donn B. Parker was one of the earliest and most influential researchers in computer security, cybercrime, and information ethics. At SRI International, he served as a senior information-security researcher and consultant, helping establish foundational principles for evaluating risks and protecting information systems.

James R. Porter was a leading market analyst and consultant in the semiconductor and storage industries. As founder and managing director of Porter Capital Partners, he provided strategic market analysis, forecasting, and competitive assessments to technology companies, investors, and industry groups.

Montgomery Phister, Jr. was a respected author, lecturer, and computer-industry executive whose books and consulting work helped clarify the architecture and economics of digital systems. His early work at Scientific Data Systems (SDS) and later Xerox Data Systems placed him at the center of developments in minicomputers and scientific computing during the 1960s and 1970s.

Robert M. Price was a technology executive and strategist known for his leadership at Control Data Corporation (CDC) during a period of significant innovation in computing and education technology. As President and Chief Operating Officer of CDC, he helped guide the company’s transition from its origins in high-performance computing toward diversified information services, training systems, and early enterprise solutions.

Thomas C. Rindfleisch was a leader in biomedical informatics, information retrieval, and digital library development. He served as Director of Stanford Medical Informatics, where he guided programs in clinical information systems, medical knowledge representation, and computational support for biomedical research.

George M. Ryan was chairman and chief executive officer of CADO Systems Corporation, a company known for its minicomputer systems and business software solutions during the 1970s and 1980s. Under his leadership, CADO developed integrated hardware-and-software environments that provided small and mid-sized businesses with capabilities normally associated with larger corporate computing environments.

Kenneth Ross is a software-industry executive and consultant known for his leadership in object-oriented technology and enterprise software systems. He is CEO of Seriosity, Inc., a company focused on applying principles from behavioral economics and game theory to enhance productivity, collaboration, and organizational performance.

Jack E. Shemer was co-founder and chief executive officer of Teradata Corporation, the company that created one of the first commercially successful massively parallel relational database systems. Under his leadership, Teradata developed high-performance data warehousing systems that became essential tools for large enterprises managing vast quantities of transactional and analytical data.

Richard H. Shriver was a business executive and consultant who held senior leadership roles in manufacturing, technology, and consumer-goods companies. He served as president of R. Shriver Associates, where he advised organizations on operations, management, and strategic planning, drawing on decades of experience leading complex enterprises.

Frederic G. “Ted” Withington is a senior consultant with Arthur D. Little, where he has spent much of his career advising corporations and government organizations on technology strategy, research and development planning, and innovation management. His work focuses on evaluating emerging technologies and helping organizations navigate the transition from scientific discovery to practical application.

Leslie Berlin is the Project Historian for the Silicon Valley Archives at Stanford University, where she documents and interprets the development of the global technology ecosystem through archival research, oral histories, and public scholarship. Her work focuses on the people, companies, and ideas that shaped the evolution of computing and Silicon Valley’s rise as a center of innovation.

Jeffery D. Stein is Vice President of Peyton Investments, Inc., an advisory firm supporting emerging technology companies and their CEOs. Over his six decades in the IT industry, Stein has founded and led multiple pioneering businesses at the forefront of online systems, digital services, and Internet technologies.

Gideon I. Gartner (1935–2020) was a pioneering entrepreneur, analyst, and philanthropist whose career helped define the modern IT research and advisory industry. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1956 and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1960.

David G. Arscott is a technology investor and financial executive with deep experience in supporting early-stage technology ventures. He serves as Treasurer of Compass Technology Group, where he oversees financial operations, investment strategy, and long-term fiscal stewardship.

Arscott’s career spans financial management, technology investment, and advisory roles in growing companies. His work includes evaluating emerging technologies, guiding corporate governance, and helping organizations build sustainable financial footing.

Brewster Kahle is the visionary digital archivist, engineer and entrepreneur who founded the non-profit Internet Archive in 1996 and co-founded the commercial web-crawl company Alexa Internet the same year. Under Kahle’s leadership, Internet Archive launched the iconic Wayback Machine in 2001, enabling the public to browse archived versions of websites and preserving vast tracts of the web for posterity.

Aaron Sylvan helps small-cap tech companies to overcome technical challenges, including resolving technical debt caused by AI/Vibe-Coding or simply inexperienced startup teams. Specialty in Enterprise SaaS and migration to/from Cloud. He also performs Technical Due Diligence for Angels, VCs, PE, and M&A.

Charles W. Bachman was a pioneering software engineer whose work helped establish the modern concept of the database management system. While at General Electric in the early 1960s, he led the development of the Integrated Data Store (IDS), one of the first commercial database management systems and a foundation for the CODASYL network data model. IDS introduced ideas—such as navigational access paths and layered architectures—that shaped mainframe data processing for decades.

Walter F. Bauer was a mathematician, digital computing pioneer, and one of the first entrepreneurs to build a large independent software company. In 1962 he founded Informatics General Corporation, which grew into one of the world’s largest software firms of its era.

Nolan Bushnell is a legendary entrepreneur whose work helped launch both the video game industry and the modern concept of family entertainment centers. In 1972 he founded Atari, Inc., the company that brought video games into mainstream culture with groundbreaking titles such as Pong and later Asteroids, Centipede, and the Atari 2600 home console. Under Bushnell’s leadership, Atari rapidly became one of the fastest-growing companies in American history, shaping the early direction of home computing and electronic entertainment.

John F. Carlson (1938–2006) was an American business executive best known for leading supercomputer manufacturer Cray Research Inc. during a pivotal period in its history. Born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he studied at Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota, and began his career as a certified public accountant with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. in 1964.

James C. Castle (d. November 11, 2015) was a technology executive and board director whose career has spanned information systems, financial services, and transaction-processing industries. He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Castle Information Technologies, an information-technology and board-of-directors consulting firm that advises companies on large-scale systems strategy and governance.

William T. “Bill” Coleman III (1947–2020) was a Silicon Valley software visionary and entrepreneur whose companies helped define enterprise infrastructure in the client-server and Internet eras. He co-founded BEA Systems in 1995 and served as its chairman and chief executive officer as the company’s middleware and application-server products became central components in large-scale enterprise systems.

Duncan G. Copeland is an information-systems strategist and consultant whose work has bridged academia and industry. He is president of Copeland & Company, a Washington-area consultancy that has advised senior management at financial institutions and large enterprises on the strategic use of information technology.