Patrick Joseph McGovern

Founder of Computerworld and the International Data Group (IDG), McGovern built one of the world's largest technology media companies, with subsidiaries in technology publishing, research, event management, and venture capital. McGovern was born...

Nick D'Aloisio

Designer of Summly — a program aimed to solve perceived problems with the way news articles are presented on smartphones — D'Aloisio is a British-Australian entrepreneur, computer programmer, and designer who created...

Thomas James Perkins

The first General Manager of HP's computer divisions who helped shepherd Hewlett-Packard's entry into the minicomputer business, Perkins was also one of the founders of the leading venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins...

Wei Yen

Major contributor to the Cydra-5 mini-supercomputer, Yen is a software developer and entrepreneur who has been involved with several companies, including as chairman and founder of AiLive. He and his brother David...

Willgodt Theophil Odhner

Inventor of one of the most popular portable mechanical calculators, Odhner based his solution on a geared pinwheel mechanism, resulting in the well-known barrel-shaped calculating machines bearing his name. Although calculating machines...

Jay N. Goldberg

Purchaser of Money Management Systems, Inc. (MMS) in 1986, Goldberg acquired the firm — which sold software and services to banks and broker-dealers for securities trading activities — from Ziff-Davis, later selling...

Jaron Zepel Lanier

Pioneer of virtual reality, Lanier led the team in the late 1980s that developed the first implementations of multi-person virtual worlds using head-mounted displays. In mid-1997, he became a founding member of...

Konrad Zuse

German engineer who, completely independently of British and American computing efforts, built the Z3 (1941), the first working program-controlled general-purpose digital computer. The Z3, destroyed in the bombing of Berlin, never got...

William (Bill) Grant Moggridge

Designer of the Grid Compass Laptop and Palm handheld, Moggridge co-founded IDEO, where he focused on developing a process that could lead to innovative products. He felt products could be more "humane."

Ken Orr

Leading researcher in the development of automated tools for business requirements, database design, and advanced client/server prototyping, Orr is an internationally recognized expert on business process reengineering, technology transfer, software engineering, data...

Diane B. Greene

Co-founder and former CEO of VMware, Greene led the company through an IPO and to a $2B run-rate. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Annapolis, Md. She received her...

Peter Norton

Creator of Norton Utilities, Norton is recognized as a pioneer in DOS-based utilities software. Before discovering microcomputers, Norton spent a dozen years working on mainframes and minicomputers for companies including Boeing and Jet...

Miguel de Icaza

Starter of the GNOME project with Federico Mena in August 1997, de Icaza aimed to create a completely free desktop environment and component model for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. Earlier,...

Susie Wee

Founder of Cisco DevNet, Wee went on to serve as its Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer beginning in 2018. She established DevNet in 2014, and previously held the role of...

Angel Angelov

Founder of the Institute of Engineering Cybernetics and Robotics in Bulgaria, Angelov is recognized for pioneering computer science applications to particle accelerators and broader industrial control systems. Microprocessor-based control and pattern recognition...

Gordon Matthews

Founder of ECS Communications (later VMX), one of the first companies to pioneer the commercialization of voicemail for corporate use, Matthews was an American inventor and businessman. He also invented systems to...

Charles Ingerham Peddle

Main designer of the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, the KIM-1 SBC, and the Commodore PET personal computer, Peddle was an American electrical engineer. Born in Bangor, Maine, he worked in a radio...

William Seward Burroughs

Inventor of the adding machine, Burroughs was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. An American inventor, born in Rochester, New York, the son of a mechanic, he worked with...

Dorr Eugene Felt

Inventor of the Comptometer, the first commercially successful key-driven mechanical calculator, Felt built his first prototype during the US Thanksgiving holidays of 1884. Because of his limited amount of money, he used...

Ahti Heinla

Co-developer of Skype, Heinla is an Estonian programmer and entrepreneur who served as Lead Architect on the project alongside Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn. They had also originally developed Kazaa, which started...