Founders Circle Award Honors Technology Leaders for their Roles in Creating CENIC
On the occasion of its 20th anniversary in 2017, CENIC created the Founders Circle Award to honor the vision, creativity, and dedication of the people who worked to found and build the organization. CENIC is among the world's most successful developers of advanced-services networks for research and education and is governed by its charter associates, including the California K-12 system, California Community Colleges, the California State University, California's public libraries, the University of California, Stanford University, the California Institute of Technology, the Naval Postgraduate School, and the University of Southern California.
Eighteen leaders central to the initial development of CENIC received this award in 2017. On March 6, 2018, a second group of leaders, some of whom became early members of the CENIC board of directors or CENIC staff, and designers of the original CalREN Network, will be honored with this award at the CENIC annual conference.
"A remarkable group of technology leaders from across higher-education institutions in California came together to help create CENIC. Just as CENIC members today work collaboratively to shape and govern the organization, these leaders worked collaboratively to lay the groundwork necessary to launch the world-class research and education network used by millions of Californians today," said Louis Fox, President and CEO of CENIC.
Founders Circle awardees for 2018 and their affiliations during the early years of CENIC are:
- Celeste Anderson (USC)
- Mark Boolootian (UC Santa Cruz)
- John Dundas III (Caltech)
- Sherilyn Evans (UCOP)
- Cliff Frost (UC Berkeley)
- Tom Hutton (UC San Diego/San Diego Supercomputer Center)
- Sidney Karin (UC San Diego)
- Johanna Madjedi (CalPoly San Luis Obispo)
- Bill Manning (USC Information Sciences Institute)
- David Reese (CSU)
- Tad Reynales (UC San Diego)
- Lea Roberts (Stanford)
- Michael Sinatra (UC Berkeley)
- Larry Smarr (UC San Diego/Calit2)
- Wayne Sung (Stanford)
- Michael Van Norman (UC Los Angeles)
- Jim Warner (UC Santa Cruz)
The entire CENIC community – past, present, and future – owes a debt of appreciation to the dedication and vision of these awardees. The CENIC Founders Circle Awards will be presented at CENIC's annual conference to be held March 5-7, 2018, in Monterey, California.
Related blog posts
Experts Review Developments in Federal Funding Landscape at CENIC 2026 Conference
At the 2026 CENIC biennial conference, The Right Connection, attendees heard from top policy analysts stressing that building and sustaining relationships with representatives and agencies in D.C. remains as important as ever in the current federal funding climate.
Celebrating Dr. Ben Izadi’s Leading Role in the CENIC and Cypress College Student Internship Program
Now in its 15th year, the CENIC internship program has given more than 100 students hands-on training and real experience in advanced networking, developed in partnership with Cypress College’s Professor Ben Izadi, who was instrumental in its success.