Vivek Wadhwa
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Vivek Wadhwa
Vivek Wadhwa is an Indian-American technology entrepreneur and academic.
Career
At Credit Suisse First Boston, Wadhwa led the development of a computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tool to develop client-server model software. First Boston spent $150 million on these development efforts. The CASE technology was spun off by First Boston into Seer Technologies in 1990 with an investment of $20 million by IBM.[1] At Seer, Wadhwa was responsible in 1993 for moving Seer into screen scraping technology for IBM mainframe terminals, as an early form of client-server computing.[2] Seer Technologies filed for an IPO in May 1995.[3]
In 1997, Wadhwa founded Relativity Technologies, a small company in Raleigh, North Carolina which developed tools for modernizing legacy COBOL programs.[4] He left the company in 2004,[5] and it was sold to Micro Focus in 2008.
Wadhwa had to build a second career in Academics after he suffered a heart attack.[6] Wadhwa is Vice President of Academics and Innovation at Singularity University;[7] an executive-in-residence/adjunct professor at the Masters of Engineering Management Program[8] and Director of Research at the Center for Research Commercialization at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering;[9] a fellow at Stanford University's Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance; and a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Halle Institute for Global Learning, at Emory University.[10] He has been a Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School's Labor and Worklife Program [11] and a visiting professor at the School of Information, at the University of California, Berkeley.[12] He writes a regular column for The Washington Post,[13] Bloomberg BusinessWeek,[14] the American Society of Engineering Education's Prism Magazine,[15][16][17][18] and Forbes, and has written for Foreign Policy[19] and TechCrunch.[20] He is also the author of the 2012 non-fiction book The Immigrant Exodus: Why America Is Losing the Global Race to Capture Entrepreneurial Talent.[21]
Columnist and pundit
Wadwa writes a regular column for The Washington Post,[22] Bloomberg BusinessWeek,[23] the American Society of Engineering Education's Prism Magazine,[24] Forbes, Foreign Policy,[25]TechCrunch[26] and The Wall Street Journal[27] Wadhwa has argued that because of the low numbers of women technology CEOs, there is a problem with the system.[28][29] In September 2014, Wadhwa released Innovating Women: The Changing Face of Technology, a book he co-authored with Farai Chideya, with the help of hundreds of women.[30] Wadhwa has publicly advocated for more diversity in the technology industry.[31] Wadhwa's research, public debates and articles call for greater inclusion of not only women, but also, African Americans, Hispanics, and older people. An MSNBC article by Alicia Maule on November 14, 2014 quotes Wadhwa as saying "Venture capital is in dismal shape. It produces low returns because it’s been the bastion of the boys club, which is not the model that needs to be followed. You need men and women. African-American and Latino – diversity is a catalyst to innovation.”[32]
Wadhwa has been arguing, based on his research, that older entrepreneurs tend to be more successful. He has written several articles defending older entrepreneurs and arguing that VCs should invest in them. The articles include: The case for old entrepreneurs,[33] Innovation without Age Limits,[34] When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule[35] and Silicon Valley’s Dark Secret: It’s All About Age.[36]
Wadhwa has researched engineering education in India, China, and the US. He has argued in many articles that US education is superior, and that education is important for US competitiveness. The articles include: Engineering Gap? Fact and Fiction,[37] U.S. Schools Are Still Ahead—Way Ahead[38] and U.S. Schools: Not That Bad[39]
Wadhwa has argued that higher education is valuable. He debated Peter Thiel, who with Henry Bienen launched the Thiel Fellowship to provide $100,000 to students who dropped out of college to start up companies, on the merits of higher education. Wadhwa argued against Thiel and Charles Murray at an Intelligence Squared debate in Chicago that was broadcast on NPR stations.[40][41]
Awards and honors
In 1999, Wadhwa was named a "leader of tomorrow" by Forbes magazine.[42]
In February 2012, Wadhwa was one of the six "2012 Outstanding American by Choice" recipients, a distinction awarded by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.[43]
In December 2012, Wadhwa was recognized by Foreign Policy magazine as a Top 100 Global Thinker.[44]
In June 2013, Wadhwa was named to Time magazine's list of the Top 40 Most Influential Minds in Tech.[45]
References
- ^ Srikumar S. Rao, 11.13.00 (2000-11-13). "Cracking The Code". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Bucken, Mike (August 1993). "Seer Technologies, Inc - Field Report: Companies on the Move". Software Magazine.
- ^ "Seer Technologies Files For Initial Public Offering. - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 1995-05-09. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ Maley, Frank (April 1, 2002). "Mouth piece: Vivek Wadhwa's talent for trumpeting his company shines, but observers want to see another kind of performance". Business North Carolina. Archived from the original on 4 April 2002.
- ^ "Relativity Technologies, Targeting Public Sector, Launches New Sales Initiative". Capitol Broadcasting Company. 11 July 2004. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
- ^ Chris Pyak, 05.08.13. "Interview with Vivek Wadhwa". Immigrantspirit.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Singularity University | Management". Singularityu.org. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "Project Team :: Global Engineering and Entrepreneurship @ Duke". Soc.duke.edu. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa | Master of Engineering Management". Memp.pratt.duke.edu. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa". Halleinstitute.emory.edu. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "LWP Staff: Vivek Wadhwa". Law.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa | School of Information". Ischool.berkeley.edu. 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa". Businessweek. 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ Engineering Our Health, March 2012
- ^ "ASEE PRISM - SEPTEMBER 2011 - LEADING EDGE". Prism-magazine.org. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "ASEE PRISM - SUMMER 2006 - LAST WORD: The Real Numbers - By Vivek Wadhwa". Prism-magazine.org. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "ASEE PRISM - DECEMBER 2011 - LEADING EDGE". Prism-magazine.org. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "Chinese and Indian Entrepreneurs Are Eating America's Lunch - By Vivek Wadhwa". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa Posts on TechCrunch". Crunchbase.com. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "Preventing Silicon Valley's 'Immigrant Exodus'". NPR. October 5, 2012.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa". Prism Magazine. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
- ^ "Vivek Wadhwa". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
- ^ "All posts by Vivek Wadhwa". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
- ^ Wadhwa, Vivek. "Silicon Valley, You and Some of Your VCs have a Gender Problem". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- ^ Upadhyaya, Preeti. "Why Vivek Wadhwa takes on the Silicon Valley status quo". UpStart Business Journal. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- ^ "Innovating Women: The Changing Face of Technology". Goodreads. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
- ^ Upadhyaya, Preeti. "Why Vivek Wadhwa takes on the Silicon Valley status quo". Upstart Business Journal. Retrieved 15 November 2014. "He (Wadwha) has been a vocal advocate for more inclusion and diversity in Silicon Valley..."
- ^ Maule, Alicia. "Innovators Changing the Face of Tech". MSNBC. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ^ Wadhwa, Vivek. "The case for old entrepreneurs". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- ^ Wadhwa, Vivek. "Innovation without Age Limits". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- ^ Wadhwa, Vivek. "When It Comes To Founding Successful Startups, Old Guys Rule". TechCrunch. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- ^ Wadhwa, Vivek. "Silicon Valley's Dark Secret: It's All About Age". TechCrunch. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- ^ Wadhwa, Vivek. "Engineering Gap? Fact and Fiction". Bloomberg Businessweek Small Business. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ Wadhwa, Vivek. "U.S. Schools Are Still Ahead—Way Ahead". Bloomberg Businessweek Technology. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ Wadhwa, Vivek. "U.S. Schools: Not That Bad". Bloomberg Businessweek Technology. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Too Many Kids Go To College". Intelligence 2 Debates.
- ^ Wadhwa, Vivek. "Friends Don't Let Friends Take Education Advice From Peter Thiel". TechCrunch. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
- ^ "The leaders of tomorrow". Forbes.com. 1999-12-30. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ "USCIS - 2012 Outstanding American by Choice Recipients". Uscis.gov. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/26/the_fp_100_global_thinkers
- ^ "Time Tech 40: The Most Influential Minds In Tech". Time. 2013-05-01.