Steve Wozniak

A Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist for the past three decades Steve Wozniak helped shape the computing industry with his design of Apples first line of products the Apple I and II and influenced the popular Macintosh In 1976 Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer Inc with Wozniaks Apple I personal computer The following year he introduced his Apple II personal computer featuring a central processing unit a keyboard color graphics and a floppy disk drive The Apple II was integral in launching the personal computer industryIn 1981 he went back to UC Berkeley and finished his degree in electrical engineeringcomputer science For his achievements at Apple Computer Wozniak was awarded the National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States in 1985 the highest honor bestowed on Americas leading innovatorsIn 2000 he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology The Economy and Employment for singlehandedly designing the first personal computer and for then redirecting his lifelong passion for mathematics and electronics toward lighting the fires of excitement for education in grade school students and their teachersAfter leaving Apple in 1985 Wozniak was involved in various business and philanthropic ventures focusing primarily on computer capabilities in schools and stressing handson learning and encouraging creativity for students Making significant investments of both his time and resources in education he adopted the Los Gatos School District providing students and teachers with handson teaching and donations of stateoftheart technology equipment He founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum Silicon Valley Ballet and Childrens Discovery Museum of San JoseWozniak currently serves as Chief Scientist for Fusionio and is a published author with the release of his New York Times Best Selling autobiography iWoz From Computer Geek to Cult Icon in September 2006 by Norton Publishing His television appearances include reality show Kathy Griffin My Life on the DList and season eight of ABCs Dancing with the Stars