Greg Whitten

Greg Whitten is a former chief software architect at Microsoft, where he worked from 1979 to 1998. Whitten graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in mathematics and from Harvard University with a Ph.D. in applied mathematics. He worked for Compucolor, where he reputedly optimized a pirated copy of Microsoft Basic so effectively that Microsoft later forgave Compucolor for their infringement in exchange for the rights to the enhancements. [1] At Microsoft, he developed the standards for the company's BASIC compiler line.[2] Since 2003, he has been CEO of Numerix.[3] He is also a vintage car enthusiast and has a famous car collection that contains various Ferraris including a Ferrari Enzo, a 250 GTO, a F40, a F50, and a LaFerrari ( see "Greg Whitten garage".)

"GW" in the name of the GW-BASIC dialect of BASIC developed by Microsoft may have come from Greg Whitten's initials:

"The GW-BASIC name stands for Gee-Whiz BASIC. The GW- name was picked by Bill Gates. He is the one who knows whether it was Gee-Whiz or after me because it has been used both ways. I did set the directions for the BASIC language features after joining the company in 1979."
- Greg Whitten, 13 Apr 2005[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Compucolor history".
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gregory Whitten (2005-04-13). "GW-BASIC". Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  3. ↑ "Numerix - Company - Executive Management - Gregory Whitten". Retrieved 2009-03-22.

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