Steve Wozniak

Overview

Mr. Wozniak, "Woz," is a Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist, best known for shaping the personal computer industry by inventing the first personal computer, and co-founding Apple Computer in 1976 with Apple Inc."s Steve Jobs. After co-founding Apple Computer, Mr. Wozniak introduced the Apple II personal computer, featuring a central processing unit, a keyboard, color graphics and a floppy disk drive. For his achievements at Apple Computer, Mr. Wozniak was awarded the national Medal of Technology by the President of the United States in 1985. In 2000, Mr. Wozniak was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology. Since leaving Apple in 1985, Mr. Wozniak has been involved in various business and philanthropic ventures, focusing primarily on computer capabilities in schools and stressing hands-on learning and encouraging creativity for students. He founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation and was a founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, Silicon Valley Ballet and the Children"s Discovery Museum of San Jose, California. He is currently Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Visionary Officer for Jazz Technologies Inc., a producer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor devices using specialty process technologies, including silicon germamium processes. Mr. Wozniak is a published author with the release of his autobiography, "iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon," in September 2006 by Norton Publishing.