Distinguished Lecture
Speaker(s): Mitch Kapor
Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 4:00pm-6:00pm
South Hall

Abstract

Audio recording (MP3)

A comparative look at the origins, development, and impact of major information technology platforms of the past three decades from the perspective of a leading entrepreneur and software designer who has played a major role in each of them.

Bio

Mitchell Kapor, 56, is Chair of the Open Source Applications Foundation (www.osafoundation.org), a non-profit organization he founded in 2001 to promote the development and acceptance of high-quality application software developed and distributed using open source methods.

He is widely known as founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the designer of Lotus 1-2-3, the "killer application" which made the personal computer ubiquitous in the business world in the 1980's. He has been at the forefront of the information technology revolution for a generation as an entrepreneur, investor, social activist, and philanthropist.