David Cheriton
Encyclopedia
David Ross Cheriton is a Canadian-born computer science professor at Stanford University
who has investments in technology companies. With an estimated net worth of US$
1.8 billion (as of March 2011), Cheriton was ranked by Forbes
as the 19th wealthiest Canadian and 692nd in the world.
, Cheriton attended public schools in the Highlands
neighborhood of Edmonton
, Alberta
, Canada
.
He briefly attended the University of Alberta
, received his bachelor's degree from the University of British Columbia
in 1973 and received his Masters and PhD degrees from the University of Waterloo
in 1974 and 1978, respectively.
He spent three years as an Assistant Professor at his alma mater
, the University of British Columbia, before moving to Stanford in 1981.
.
One of Cheriton's notable publications, with Dale Skeen, is the paper "Understanding the limits of causally and totally ordered communication", presented at the ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles in 1993.
, a company developing gigabit Ethernet products, acquired by Cisco Systems
in 1996.
In August 1998, Stanford students Sergey Brin
and Larry Page
met with Bechtolsheim on Cheriton's front porch. Bechtolsheim wrote the first cheque to fund their company Google
at the meeting, and Cheriton matched the investment.
He was also a co-founder, in 2001, of Bechtolsheim's next start up company, Kealia, which was acquired by Sun Microsystems
in 2004.
Later, David Cheriton co-founded (with Bechtolsheim) and was chief scientist of Arastra (now Arista Networks
), a maker of 10 Gigabit Ethernet
switches. Cheriton is an investor in and advisory board member for frontline data warehouse company Aster Data Systems
, and founded OptumSoft.
(ACM) "for his contributions in data networking and systems, and for his keen talent for questioning the assumptions behind all our work."
1 billion, Cheriton has a reputation for a frugal lifestyle, avoiding expensive cars or large houses. He was once included in a list of "cheapskate billionaires".
On November 18, 2005, the University of Waterloo
announced that Cheriton had donated $25 million to support graduate studies and research in its School of Computer Science. In recognition of his contribution, the school was renamed the "David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science
."
On January 18, 2010, Cheriton donated $2 million to the University of British Columbia
, which will go to fund the Carl Wieman
Science Education Initiative (CWSEI).
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
who has investments in technology companies. With an estimated net worth of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1.8 billion (as of March 2011), Cheriton was ranked by Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
as the 19th wealthiest Canadian and 692nd in the world.
Education
Born in VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Cheriton attended public schools in the Highlands
Highlands, Edmonton
Highlands is a residential neighbourhood in north east Edmonton, Alberta, Canada overlooking the North Saskatchewan River valley. The area was annexed by Edmonton in 1912, and "was named in a contest offering a 50-dollar prize."...
neighborhood of Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
He briefly attended the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
, received his bachelor's degree from the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in 1973 and received his Masters and PhD degrees from the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
in 1974 and 1978, respectively.
He spent three years as an Assistant Professor at his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
, the University of British Columbia, before moving to Stanford in 1981.
Research
Cheriton founded and led the Distributed Systems Group at Stanford University, which developed the V operating systemV (operating system)
The V operating system is a microkernel operating system that was developed by faculty and students in the distributed systems group at Stanford University from 1981 to 1988, led by Professors David Cheriton and Keith A. Lantz...
.
One of Cheriton's notable publications, with Dale Skeen, is the paper "Understanding the limits of causally and totally ordered communication", presented at the ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles in 1993.
Industry
Cheriton co-founded Granite Systems with Andy BechtolsheimAndy Bechtolsheim
Andreas von Bechtolsheim is an electrical engineer who co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 and was its chief hardware designer....
, a company developing gigabit Ethernet products, acquired by Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
in 1996.
In August 1998, Stanford students Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin
Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin is a Russian-born American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded Google, one of the largest internet companies. , his personal wealth is estimated to be $16.7 billion....
and Larry Page
Larry Page
Lawrence "Larry" Page is an American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, with Sergey Brin, is best known as the co-founder of Google. As of April 4, 2011, he is also the chief executive of Google, as announced on January 20, 2011...
met with Bechtolsheim on Cheriton's front porch. Bechtolsheim wrote the first cheque to fund their company Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
at the meeting, and Cheriton matched the investment.
He was also a co-founder, in 2001, of Bechtolsheim's next start up company, Kealia, which was acquired by Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
in 2004.
Later, David Cheriton co-founded (with Bechtolsheim) and was chief scientist of Arastra (now Arista Networks
Arista Networks
Arista Networks is a computer networking company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. The company designs and sells network switches for datacenter, high-performance computing and high-frequency trading environments...
), a maker of 10 Gigabit Ethernet
10 Gigabit Ethernet
The 10 gigabit Ethernet computer networking standard was first published in 2002. It defines a version of Ethernet with a nominal data rate of 10 Gbit/s , ten times faster than gigabit Ethernet.10 gigabit Ethernet defines only full duplex point to point links which are generally connected by...
switches. Cheriton is an investor in and advisory board member for frontline data warehouse company Aster Data Systems
Aster Data Systems
Aster Data Systems is a data management and analysis software company headquartered in San Carlos, California. It was founded in 2005 and acquired in 2011.-Products:...
, and founded OptumSoft.
Awards and honours
In 2003, Cheriton was presented with the SIGCOMM Lifetime Achievement award by the Association for Computing MachineryAssociation for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
(ACM) "for his contributions in data networking and systems, and for his keen talent for questioning the assumptions behind all our work."
Lifestyle
Although the Google investment alone would be worth over US$United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1 billion, Cheriton has a reputation for a frugal lifestyle, avoiding expensive cars or large houses. He was once included in a list of "cheapskate billionaires".
On November 18, 2005, the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
announced that Cheriton had donated $25 million to support graduate studies and research in its School of Computer Science. In recognition of his contribution, the school was renamed the "David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science
David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science
The David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science is the School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. Part of the Faculty of Mathematics, the school comprises 77 faculty members, nearly 300 graduate students, approximately 2100 undergraduates, and 55 staff members.-History:In 1965,...
."
On January 18, 2010, Cheriton donated $2 million to the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
, which will go to fund the Carl Wieman
Carl Wieman
Carl Edwin Wieman is an American physicist at the University of British Columbia and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics for the production, in 1995 with Eric Allin Cornell, of the first true Bose–Einstein condensate.-Biography:...
Science Education Initiative (CWSEI).