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(Written
for Minnesota Technology Magazine, Fall, 2001)
MINNESOTA TECHNOLOGY 2001 TEKNE AWARD WINNER
PROFILE
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
William C.
Norris
Some time has passed since the days when Control Data
Corporation Founder and Chairman Emeritus Bill Norris would
arrive at work each morning toting two heavy leather
briefcases bulging with notebooks full of his ideas. As
described by former Control Data Manager Deanna Nord, in her
book, Never Business as Usual: William C. Norris, "At home,
Norris had notebooks in every single room, so that when he
got an idea, he could write it down immediately. He didn't
want ideas to get away form him." Time, it seems, doesn't
change all things.
Today, 90-year-old Norris is still touting the power of new
ideas as he pioneers business and technological development
and promotes business opportunity as a solution for social
ills. As chairman of the board of directors of the William
C. Norris Institute, the former Control Data CEO and
chairman is still advancing technological cooperation that's
responsive to major societal needs.
The former Nebraska farm boy became an electrical engineer
and served as a U.S. Navy code breaking technician in World
War II. Post-war, he helped spark the fledgling computer
industry and eventually founded the company that became the
world's first computer manufacturer. Under his leadership
Control Data pioneered large-scale computers and PLATO
(programmed language for automated teaching operations)
which applied computer technology to education. Norris
retired in 1986, the same year that President Ronald Reagan
awarded him the National Medal of Technology in recognition
of his contributions to the development of digital computer
technology.
In 1988, he began work with the William C. Norris Institute,
established by a CDC endowment. Among the Institute's many
accomplishments: a multi-million dollar seed-capital fund
and the Job Creation Collaborative which facilitates
public/private collaboration to support technology-based
start-up companies.
Norris is a long-time advocate of large corporations taking
initiative, in cooperation with government and other
sectors, to address major unmet needs of society by
providing profitable business opportunities. He put this
concept in practice at CDC, directing plant openings in
urban areas of un- and underemployment. In 1983 Norris
conceived and initiated the Microelectronics and Computer
Technology Corporation. Today, with 56 member and associate
member companies, it is a flagship of technological
cooperation, working on a number of joint activities with
government agencies and universities. Norris also helped
organize the Norwest Growth Fund, Minnesota Seed Capital
Fund and Minnesota Cooperation Office, which assist small
businesses to start up and operate successfully.
Norris focuses primarily on promoting better, more available
and less costly education and training, and raising the
level and efficiency of technological innovation. He
authored New Frontiers for Business Leadership, a treatise
on how U.S. corporations can address major unmet needs of
society as profitable business opportunities. His work
prompted Ralph Nader to profile Norris in his 1986 book, The
Big Boys: Power and Influence in American Business,
predicting that Norris may "come to be known as the most
revolutionary figure on the modern corporate stage."
To a long list of professional awards and accolades, Norris
can now add a Tekne Award, which recognizes him for sticking
to his simple philosophy: "Do something meaningful."
- Greg Irsfeld
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