Steve Wozniak

Biography

A Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist for the past three decades, Steve Wozniak helped shape the computing industry with his design of Apple’s first line of products the Apple I and II and influenced the popular Macintosh. For his achievements at Apple Computers, Steve was awarded the National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States, the highest honour bestowed on America’s leading innovators.

Steve was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology, The Economy and Employment for “single-handedly 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 teachers.”

Making significant investments of both his time and resources in education, Steve ‘adopted’ the Los Gatos School District, providing students and teachers with hands-on teaching and donations of state-of-the-art technology equipment. He founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, Silicon Valley Ballet and Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.

Since leaving Apple, Steve has also taught fifth grade students, worked on a universal remote control and GPS technology, written his autobiography, iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon, and has served as chief scientist for Fusion-io, a data storage and server company.