Steve Wozniak

Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist Steve Wozniak—known as “The Woz”—made his mark in the 1970s with the design of Apple’s first products: the Apple I and II. The latter design included a central processing unit, a keyboard, color graphics, and a floppy disk drive—all the ingredients needed to launch the personal computer industry. He was awarded the highest honor bestowed on America’s leading innovators—the National Medal of Technology—by the President of the United States, and later inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame. Wozniak also recieved the Hoover Medal, a prestigious honor given for “outstanding extra-career services by engineers to humanity.”

Wozniak’s biography, the New York Times bestselling iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon, not only shares the thrilling behind-the-scenes story of how the Apple Computer was born, but also gives readers a peek into how the famous tech wizard’s brain really works. His candid, funny, boisterous talks do the same, dazzling audiences with Wozniak’s good humour as well as his smarts.

After leaving Apple, Wozniak dedicated himself to various business and philanthropic ventures, focusing primarily on improving computer literacy in schools and encouraging hands-on, creative learning. He won the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology, Economy and Employment for “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 investment of both his time and resources, Wozniak “adopted” the Los Gatos School District, providing its students and teachers with hands-on teaching and state-of-the-art technology equipment. Wozniak founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum and Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.