Steve Wozniak, a Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist for more than 30 years, is coming to Milwaukee this summer. He'll speak Friday, June 27, at the UWM Zelazo Center. Wozniak helped shape the computing industry, co-founding Apple Computer Inc. with Steve Jobs in 1976 with his Apple I personal computer.
The announcement of Wozniak's visit comes today from Innovation in Milwaukee (MiKE), an initiative of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. MiKE also announced all of its events for Flying Car 2014 today. Flying Car, as I wrote last year, is a platform for celebrating innovation and technology talent taking place in Milwaukee June 25-27.
Wozniak has received many awards and honors, including the National Medal of Technology and induction into the Inventors Hall of Fame. Wozniak has been involved in various business and philanthropic ventures through the years, and currently serves as Chief Scientist for Fusion-io. In 2014, he was awarded the Hoover Medal, a prestigious honor given for "outstanding extra-career services by engineers to humanity."
"We look forward to again showcasing Milwaukee as an emerging hub of technology and innovation," said ManpowerGroup President and MiKE Council co-chair Jonas Prising. "Who today better embodies innovation than Steve Wozniak?"
Flying Car 2014's theme is "People-Powered Innovation." "When we rebranded Innovation Week as ‘Flying Car’ in 2013, the event truly started to take off," said Briggs & Stratton Chairman, president and CEO and MiKE Council co-chair Todd Teske. "At Flying Car 2014, speakers and labs will teach guests that anyone, no matter their title, can infuse innovation into their everyday work and lives."
In addition to Wozniak, other speakers include Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan "Bud" Selig, musician Robert DeLong, Living City Block founder and producer of the Emmy Award-winning series "The West Wing" Llew Wells, innovator and former Google brand strategist Heidi Hackemer, The Ability Center founder Damian Buchman, environmentalist race car driver Leilani Munter and AOL digital prophet David Shing.
Guests will also participate in hands-on labs led by locally- and nationally-renowned innovators and companies, and will have opportunities to network and connect with each other and speakers.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
