Mr. Peter Karmanos, Jr.

CEO of Compuware Corporation and owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, Plymouth Whalers and Florida Everblades hockey franchises, on June 7, 2011, he announced that he will relinquish the CEO position on June 20 to become executive chairman. Born into a Greek immigrant family, he graduated from Wayne State University and founded Compuware, a software company based in Detroit in 1973, with two partners, Thomas Thewes and Allen Cutting. He attended Wayne State University in Detroit, before pursuing his fascination with business and technology. Getting the company to where it is today, however, has not always been so simple. Flashback to 1973, when Pete sat in his dining room with his two buddies and gambled. The stakes were higher than he could?ve imagined at the time, because with $3,000 each in tax-return money, Pete and his friends formed Compuware, a company that would become a worldwide leader in delivering technology value to customers. They wanted to build ??a 20-to-25 person company that would be a fun place to work.? Instead, they created Detroit?s technology giant, with more than 4,000 employees and nearly $1 billion in annual revenue. Since Compuware began, he?s had a front seat on the rollercoaster of the technology industry. He?s seen the fads come and go. He?s seen little sock puppets star in $2 million TV commercials only to end up bankrupt and on the auction block. What does it take to thrive in the midst of the madness? As he will tell you, there?s no big secret. It?s a time-tested formula consisting of highly visible leadership, hands-on management, a keen awareness of what?s happening in the industry, and most importantly; a strong foundation of a straightforward, unwavering mission -to deliver value through technology, allowing customers to focus on what they do best, from selling cars to selling widgets. This focus has allowed him and his worldwide teams to see through the trends and fads and build real solutions that customers want and need. With solutions that help software performance surpass expectations, Compuware continues to help people do things with computers. He is an avid gardener, a member of Mensa and is a co-owner of three hockey teams. He also created youth hockey programs for the children of Southeast Michigan. In addition to his personal and business pursuits, he is deeply committed to philanthropy and has made gifts of more than $60 million to establish and support the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, the only nationally recognized center to be named for a woman. He, along with Compuware employees around the world, supports a wide variety of other causes.