Netscape. Atari. Iomega.
Name recognition in the high-tech world doesn't come any stronger than that.
The founders of those three giants will be honored for their work by the Utah Information Technology Association through induction into UITA's Hall of Fame.
David Bailey, Nolan Bushnell and Jim Clark will be recognized at the fourth annual Hall of Fame awards dinner Nov. 6 at the Hilton City Center grand ballroom.
"We are extremely pleased to highlight these new honorees for their world-class technology and successes," said Richard R. Nelson, UITA president and chief executive officer. "It is with tremendous pride that Utah's high-tech community continues to harvest technology innovators that will define the future of our world."
Bailey was co-founder and the initial chairman and chief executive officer of Iomega. He was selected as Entrepreneur of the Year in 1988 by the MountainWest Venture Group for inventions connected to Iomega. Bailey, who holds four U.S. patents, attended Utah State University, where he has been honored with a distinguished alumnus award in electrical engineering.
Bailey now serves as CEO of CeriStar, the fourth company he has founded.
Bushnell is best known as the founder of Atari. The popularity of the company's "Pong" game led Bushnell to be revered as the "Father of Video Games." He has founded more than 20 companies and has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consumer Electronics Association's Hall of Fame.
Clark is the only person in business history to have created and grown three $1 billion-plus companies from inception to public offering: Silicon Graphics Inc., Netscape Communications Corp. and Healtheon Corp. He also founded MyCFO in 1999.
Clark received a doctorate from the University of Utah, where his thesis was the first implementation of what today is known as "Virtual Reality." He currently serves as chairman and primary investor of Shutterfly.
UITA's Hall of Fame honors people with Utah ties who have made a significant contribution to the information technology industry through technology, innovation and/or business.
The Hall of Fame ceremony begins with a networking reception at 6 p.m., followed by the dinner and awards ceremony at 7:30 p.m. The cost for the black-tie event is $125 for UITA members and guests and $150 for nonmembers and guests. Proceeds will help foster the growth of Utah's high-tech community. More information is available by calling Michelle Estrada at 568-3500.
Previous Hall of Fame honorees include John Warnock of Adobe; David Evans and Ivan Sutherland of Evans & Sutherland; Ray Noorda of Novell; Alan Ashton and Bruce Bastian of WordPerfect; Edwin Catmull of Pixar Animation Studios; Thomas Stockham, the "Father of Digital Recording;" Philo Farnsworth, the "Father of Television"; and Megahertz founders Stephen Aldous, Spencer Kirk and David Spafford.
E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com