- Alan Ashton (executive)
Alan C. Ashton, (born 1942) Co-Founder,
WordPerfect Corporation ; Professor,Brigham Young University . Born inSalt Lake City ,Utah . He is a member ofThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [ [http://famousmormons.net/computers.html Famous Mormons Mathematicians ] ] .Infobox Scientist
image_width = 150px
name = Alan Ashton
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birth_date = 1942
birth_place = Salt Lake City
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citizenship = United States
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field =Computer science bioinformatics
work_institutions =WordPerfect Corporation
alma_mater =University of Utah
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known_for = WordPerfect
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religion = Mormon
footnotes =WordPerfect
Ashton began his work in computer science in the
University of Utah , studying computing and music in the early 1970s. In 1977 Ashton began work on word processing when he created a spec for an improved console-basedword processor . His spec outlined various innovations at the time, including continuous documents, function key shortcuts, modeless editing, and primitiveWYSIWYG formatting. Along withBruce Bastian , his student, Ashton incorporated "Satellite Software International", which would later becomeWordPerfect Corporation , in September 1979.In 1987, Ashton leftBYU to serve full time as president andCEO of WordPerfect Corporation.Ashton ran WordPerfect as a triumvirate, along with Bastian and W.E. (“Pete”) Peterson. Ashton and Bastian each controlled 49.5% of the company, and Peterson controlled 1%. While Ashton was the titular head of WordPerfect, Peterson ran the day-to-day operations, and was frequently misinterpreted as the head of the company by the press. Ashton's management style was hands-off. At one point, the entire development organization of WordPerfect reported directly to him. Peterson asserts that he was agreeable and preferred to avoid contention.
In 1990 Ashton was identified by
Forbes magazine as one of the 400 wealthiest individuals in the U.S.Ashton joined the
Novell Corporation Board of Directors in 1994, and resigned in 1996.Ashton is unrelated to
Ashton-Tate , a database company and contemporary of WordPerfect in the 1980s. Ashton is the grandson of late Mormon Church presidentDavid O. McKay . His mother, Emma Rae McKay Ashton, was named after her mother. Alan Ashton served as a missionary in Central Germany as a young man. [LDS Church News, February 14th, 2004 p. Z12]In April 1999 Dr. Alan C. Ashton founded ASH Capital. A venture investment company controlled by Dr Ashton and managed by James Savas and David Harkness.
Thanksgiving Point
After
WordPerfect was acquired byNovell and Ashton’s responsibilities were alleviated, he and his wife foundedThanksgiving Point . Thanksgiving Point is located inLehi, Utah , within 20 miles of WordPerfect’s former corporate headquarters in Orem.“We wanted to create something for the people around us," says Ashton. "We've been blessed financially and with a large family. We wanted to give something back to the community and the families in our area.”
Today, Thanksgiving Point provides the community with a place where adults and children can learn about farming, gardening and cooking. Additionally, Thanksgiving Point provides the community with a championship caliber golf course, a museum of ancient life and a movie theater.
Mission President
Alan Ashton served as a
mission president forThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormons) in western Ontario from July 2004 through June 2007; this mission is called the Canada Toronto West Mission. [LDS Church News, March 6th, 2004]References
External links
* [http://www.wordplace.com/ap/ Almost Perfect]
* [http://www.lib.utah.edu/gould/1994/author94.html University of Utah Ashton Bio]
* [http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/1996/12/pr96221.html Ashton's Novell Resignation]
* [http://www.thanksgivingpoint.com/information/history.html History of Thanksgiving Point]
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