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MENTOR / The National Mentoring Partnership is an advocate and resource for mentoring in the United States. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, with headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

Mentoring is a tool for helping children and youth succeed in life. Although nearly 17.6-million young Americans need or want a mentor,^{[citation needed]} only about three million are in formal, high-quality mentoring relationships.^[1] That means nearly 15-million young people are still in need today.

MENTOR’s mission is to expand the power of mentoring to the millions of young Americans who want or need adult role models.

MENTOR shares information, national standards, and best practices so that the mentoring community can work effectively and efficiently. It works with the organizations that directly match and oversee the mentor-mentee pairs, and helps individuals mentoring opportunity in their communities.

Throughout the month of January - National Mentoring Month - and year-round, the Harvard Mentoring Project, MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, and the Corporation for National and Community Service are spearheading the effort to raise awareness of ways that individuals can lend their support to this important cause. People interested in becoming mentors are asked to go to MENTOR official website, where they can find organizations offering mentoring opportunities in their local community. Harvard's WhoMentoredYou project features videos of Quincy Jones, Clint Eastwood, Oprah Winfrey, Colin Powell, and other well-known individuals talking about their mentors. Watch MENTOR's Go There! mentoring public service announcement featuring George Lopez, Susan Essman, Cheryl Hines, Bob Costas, Oscar De La Hoya, Dan Marino, and Jamie Hector.

MENTOR co-founders Geoff Boisi and Ray Chambers each received the Lewis Hine Distinguished Service Award from the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) for a lifetime of outstanding service to children. Boisi and Chambers are credited with galvanizing the nation to create the youth mentoring movement.

See also[link]

• Youth mentoring
• StudentMentor.org
• The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

References[link]

1. ^ MENTOR: "Mentoring in America 2005: A Snapshot of the Current State of Mentoring", p1. 2006.

External links[link]

• MENTOR official website
• Video of celebrities promoting the need for mentoring.
• Speech by former mentee Ean Garrett April 2008

Jack Canfield (born August 19, 1944)^[1] is an American motivational speaker and author.^[2][3] He is best known as the co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, which currently has nearly 200 titles and 112 million copies in print in over 40 languages.^[4][5][6] According to USA Today, Chicken Soup for the Soul and several of the series titles by Canfield and his writing partner, Mark Victor Hansen, were among the top 150 best-selling books of the last 15 years (October 28, 1993 through October 23, 2008).^[7]

In July 2004, Jack Canfield founded the Transformational Leadership Council,^[8] a group of thought leaders, speakers, authors, coaches, trainers, researchers, consultants, and other leaders in the fields of personal and professional development. The members of TLC meet semi-annually to network, connect, and learn from each other, to enhance members' effectiveness and contribution in the world. So far, semi-annual meetings have been held in USA, Canada, Bermuda and Mexico. As of January 2012, membership numbered 120.

Biography[link]

Canfield has worked as a teacher, a workshop facilitator, and a psychotherapist.^[6] He is a Democrat and a follower of "the secret" and the Law of Attraction, and his hobbies include tennis, travel, skiing, running, billiards, reading, and guitar.^[6] In 1962, he graduated from high school at Linsly Military Institute in Wheeling, West Virginia and he received a BA in Chinese History in 1966 from Harvard University and an MEd at University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1973.^[6] In 1978 he was named Outstanding Young Man of America by the U.S. Jaycees.^[6] On September 9, 1978, he married Georgia Lee Noble, with whom he had a son (Christopher N. Canfield). They divorced in December 1999. On July 4, 2001, Canfield married Inga Marie Mahoney. In the recently released Long Past Stopping, Canfield's first son, Oran, from a previous marriage, details a troubled childhood with a distant father, as well as his skepticism of the entire self-help genre in which his father became famous.^[9]

Career[link]

In 1990, Canfield shared with Mark Victor Hansen the idea for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and after three years, the two had compiled sixty-eight stories.^[4] Canfield has appeared on numerous television shows, including Good Morning America, 20/20, Eye to Eye^{[disambiguation needed ]}, CNN's Talk Back Live, PBS, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Montel Williams Show, Larry King Live, and the BBC.^[2]

Canfield is the founder of "Self Esteem Seminars" in Santa Barbara, and "The Foundation for Self Esteem" in Culver City, California.^[6] One of Canfield's most recent books, The Success Principles (2005), shares 64 principles that he claims can make people more successful.^[2] In 2008, he wrote The Success Principles for Teens with Kent Healy, as a result of the success of his original book. In 2006, he appeared in the DVD, "The Secret", and shared his insights on the Law of Attraction and tips for achieving success in personal and professional life. In the summer of 2004 Canfield founded The Transformational Leadership Council (TLC), a closed membership, invitation only members' club.^[10]

[edit] Bibliography^[6]

(Other than the Chicken Soup for the Soul series)

• About Me: A Curriculum for a Developing Self, Encyclopædia Britannica (With Harold C. Wells) (Chicago, IL), 1971.
• One Hundred Ways to Enhance Self-Concept in the Classroom: A Handbook for Teachers and Parents (With Harold C. Wells), Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1976, revised edition, Allyn & Bacon (Boston, MA), 1993.
• Personalized Learning: Confluent Processes in the Classroom, privately printed (Newington, CT), 1976, published as Loving to Learn, Self-Esteem Seminars (Culver City, CA), 1997.
• Self-Esteem in the Classroom: A Curriculum Guide, Self-Esteem Seminars (With Marie Reese, Ron Rowland, Sandie Limina, and others) (Culver City, CA), 1986.
• Self-Esteem and Peak Performance: A Transcript, Career-Track (Boulder, CO), 1991.
• One Hundred and One Ways to Develop Student Self-Esteem and Responsibility in the Classroom (With Frank Siccone) , Allyn & Bacon (Boston, MA), Volume 1: The Teacher as Coach, 1992, Volume 2: The Power to Succeed in School and Beyond, 1992, published in one volume, 1994.
• Los Angeles Dodgers Team Esteem Program: A Self-Esteem Curriculum Guide, Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA), 1992.
• Dare to Win (With Mark Victor Hansen), Berkley Books (New York, NY), 1994.
• Follow Your Dreams: A Goals-setting Workbook (With Karen Goldberg), Dream Time Project (Wayne, PA), 1994.
• The Aladdin Factor: How to Ask for and Get Everything You Want in Life (With Mark Victor Hansen), Berkley Books (New York, NY), 1995.
• Heart at Work: Stories and Strategies for Building Self-Esteem and Reawakening the Soul at Work (With Jacqueline Miller), McGraw (New York, NY), 1996.
• A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul (With Mark Victor Hansen and Barry Spilchuk), Health Communications (Deerfield Beach, FL), 1996.
• The Power of Focus, Health Communications (With Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt), (Deerfield Beach, FL), 2000.
• The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be (With Janet Switzer), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2005.
• The Golden Motorcycle Gang: A Story of Transformation (With William Gladstone), Hay House (New York, NY), 2011.^[11]

[edit] Honors awards^[6]

• Named Outstanding Young Man of America, U.S. Jaycees, 1978
• honorary Ph.D., University of Santa Monica, 1981
• For Chicken Soup for the Soul: One Hundred and One Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit:
  • American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) award 1995
  • Storytelling World award for tellable adult stories, 1995
  • Body, Mind, and Soul Book award, 1996
  • American Family Institute Nonfiction Literary award,
• Named Southern California Book Publicist of the Year, 1995
• Storytelling World award for tellable adult stories, 1996, for A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul
• Distinguished Author award, Radio and Television Interview Report, 1996
• Motivator of the Year award, Business Digest, 1999
• Chancellor's Medal, University of Massachusetts, 1998
• Promise of the Earth Award, National Arbor Day Foundation, 1998
• Oprah's Angel Network Award, 1999.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jack Canfield at the Internet Movie Database

Jaclyn Victor
Background information
Birth name	Jaclyn A/P Joshua Thanaraj Victor
Also known as	Jac
Born	(1978-12-04) December 4, 1978 (age 33)
Origin	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Genres	Pop, pop rock, R&B
Occupations	Singer
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Sony Music Malaysia
Website	http://www.jaclynvictor.com/

Jaclyn Joshua Thanaraj Victor (born December 4, 1978) is a singer and actress, popularly known as Jac, who won the inaugural Malaysian Idol and Ikon Malaysia. For being the winner of Malaysian Idol, she won a recording contract under Sony BMG Entertainment. She is under the management of The 8 Unit. She represented Malaysia in the first Asian Idol and Ikon Asean. She is also dubbed as Asia's Divette for her vocal prowess.

Biography and music career[link]

Early life[link]

Victor is a Malaysian of Tamil descent. She was born in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 4, 1978. She is the eldest and only daughter of Maggie Victor, a single mother of Indian descent. Her siblings include three younger brothers. When Victor was nine years old, her father died, prompting her mother to take on three jobs simultaneously to support her four children.^[1] At the age of eighteen, Victor started singing in clubs and hotel lounges.

With the support of friends and family, Victor and her friend, Ravi recorded an album, titled Dream. This self-produced album features songs co-written by Victor as well. There are attempts to promote this album including an appearance on the 8TV show Latte @ 8.

[edit] Malaysian Idol

In 2004, her mother encouraged her to audition for Malaysian Idol. Along with ten thousand others, Victor auditioned for Malaysian Idol. The judges Roslan Aziz, Fauziah Latiff and Paul Moss put her through to the next round. Upon landing a final thirty-third spot, Victor performed "Superwoman" live, becoming the seventh person to reach the top twelve.

In the first spectacular show, the theme for the week was "Song from your Pop Idol". Victor choose a song from Indonesian diva Ruth Sahanaya, "Keliru". Coached under Aubrey Suwito, Juwita Suwito along with Elaine Pedley, her performance took her through to the next round. The second theme was "Song from your Classic Idol". Victor's choice was When I Fall in Love where Michael Xavier Voon joined in as performance coach. It gained resounding praise. After another double elimination sending off Fahmy and Rydee, Victor was back the following week performing a "Song from the 80s", Chaka Khan’s I Feel For You. She went on to the "Rock Show" with a performance of Sweet Child O’ Mine.

The last six contestants included Nikki, Dina, Vick, Andrew, and Saipul. Victor performed an effortless Lady Marmalade, but received a less favourable comment from Roslan, who expressed that "she is a super singer but not an idol", and he felt bored week by week of her performances thus far. On the results show, she found herself in the bottom two for the first time (with Nikki, who performed Emotion), but she survived the elimination. After reaching the last three, her chances were improved by her performance of Alicia Keys' If I Ain’t Got You.

Victor had become the final two contestants on Malaysian Idol, and on 9 October 2004, she took the title of Malaysian Idol, earning 76% of audience votes over Dina.^[2] In tears, Victor performed the ballad Gemilang (Glory), the song written for the winner of Malaysian Idol, which would subsequently appear on her début album Gemilang. The song's music video incorporated short scenes of Victor through her journey in Malaysian Idol.

Post-Idol career[link]

Victor's album achieved gold status within weeks of going on sale. Her previously-released album Dream, sold out within days, despite the sudden increase in price^{[citation needed]}. She won the "Best Newcomer Award" on Hitz. FM and "Best New Artist" in Anugerah Bintang Popular.

Since winning, Victor has appeared in numerous television and talk shows such as Pillow Talk and Muzik-Muzik. She has also performed "Gemilang" at a Tsunami Concert held to aid victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. She has performed in duets with Hazami, Taufik Batisah, Akademi Fantasia's second winner, Zahid, Delon Thamrin, and Misha Omar.

Victor first received her international award when she won 'Golden Voice', the grand prize at Shanghai Music Festival, in China on October 28, 2005.

Victor emerged as the champion during the Asian Music Festival in Shanghai with her winning song, "Gemilang". On January 21, 2006, Victor walked away with RTM Hits 1 Best Song and Best Performance awards for Gemilang. Later, on February 5 the same year, the song earned her and its composer Aubrey Suwito and lyricist Azmin Mudin the "Juara Lagu" (Champion of Songs) and "Best Ballad Song" awards in TV3's 20th edition of the Anugerah Juara Lagu. She was expected to win the TV3's "Anugerah Vokal Terbaik" (Best Vocal Award). However, she lost the title to Hazami who performed "Kata". Victor grabbed the Best Female Artiste award at the Anugerah Planet Muzik (Music Planet Awards) in Singapore on March 24.

On April 29, 2006, Victor won four of seven nominations from the Malaysian music scene's biggest night, the 13th Anugerah Industri Muzik. They are Best New Artist, Best Musical Arrangement in a Song, Best Pop Album and Best Album.

After a series of delays, Victor's second album, Inilah Jac, was launched on August 25, 2006. Around the time it was launched, she was on a trip to Australia for both leisure and business purposes, including visiting Mount Buller, and performing in two concerts in Melbourne's Australia for Christ Fellowship Church (alongside singer-songwriter Juwita Suwito), and in Adelaide's Paradise Community Church (which inaugural Australian Idol winner, Malaysian-born Guy Sebastian is a member of; though Sebastian himself did not appear). While in Australia, Victor also did an interview for Christian radio station HCJB.^[3]

In November 2006, she finally landed her first "proper" music video (previously her videos are snippets from studio recording sessions or footage from her Malaysian Idol days) when she filmed Ceritera Cinta with male crooner Rio Febrian in his homeland in Indonesia.

2007 was a very busy year for Jaclyn. She competed in the Ikon Malaysia 2007 (solo category) competition. Victor made it to the Semi-Finals and Final round together with Dayang Nurfaizah and Mawi. In the final, Jac sang a medley of songs which is "Impian" (hope) from her first album, "Cepat-cepat" in her second album and her third song "Gemilang", and won the title Ikon Malaysia.

Later that year, she competed in Ikon Asean only to be defeated by the Philippines' Vina Morales. She also participated in first Asian Idol which was won by Hady Mirza of Singapore Idol.

At the 14th Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) Malaysia, on the 28th of April 2007, Jac was nominated for 4 awards - Best Vocal Performance in an Album - Female; Best Music Arrangement in a song - Inilah Masanya; Best Pop Album - Inilah Jac; Ceritera Cinta - Song of the year. Jac won the "Best Female Vocal Performance in an Album" award. Jac also received two APM nominations, all of which are attributed to Inilah Jac.

Jac was featured on the highly-anticipated Special Edition of Disney studio's High School Musical 2 soundtrack. She sang the duet "You Are The Music In Me" in both English and Bahasa Malaysia with another singing reality-tv program "Akademi Fantasia" season 1 Winner, Vince Chong. A music video and nationwide mall tour followed for fans - both young and old - of the High School Musical franchise. The video of their version of the song is now on the Special Edition DVD of High School Musical 2 (2008).

As part of the year-long "50 Years of Malaysian Independence" celebrations, Jac was part of the "Live and Loud KL" concert series which featured international and local artists. This 10-day jam-packed music extravaganza featured a wide range of genres and over 50 of the planet’s hottest artistes, with more than 45 hours of live music. The festival was held from the 23rd of November until the 2nd of December, where each passing day gave festival-goers a different genre, a different theme, a different repertoire, a different venue and most definitely different stars. Whitney Houston, Elliott Yamin, Shaggy, Project Pop, James Taylor Quartet, Joe Flizzow and Hannah Tan were just some of the many acts to shine - alongside Jaclyn herself.

Prior to Christmas 2007, Jac flew to Moscow, Russia for a charity Christmas concert named Christmas Bash 2007,^[4] co-organized by the Sechenov Malaysian Student Association and Malaysian Fellowship Moscow after an invitation by the organizing committee. The concert was attended by close to a thousand people(majority of them being Malaysian Medical Students studying in Moscow). Her performance resulted in the audience's interests in her album though, it can't prove she's been accepted there as an artist due to the majority of Malaysians that make up the audience.

Jac also performed during the 8TV (Malaysia) 4th birthday bash in January 2008 to a very large crowd of cheering fans - and her talents were a true highlight of the event.

On January 27, 2008 the finals of the annual Anugerah Juara Lagu (Best Song) Awards in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were held. After a long and difficult competition, Jac won the coveted Best Vocal Award - (along with Lah from VE) for their rendition of Jac's beautiful duet "Ceritera Cinta" (originally with Indonesian singer, Rio Febrian). The song can be found on Jac's Second Sony BMG album - Inilah Jac.

Thus far, two of her songs have been used as opening themes for two Malaysian television series, Fara (Cepat-Cepat) and Manjalara (Satu Harapan).

Acting career[link]

She starred in the film Talentime by Yasmin Ahmad in 2009. She received the award for Best Promising Actress for the film at the 22nd Malaysian Film Festival.^[5] She has also reportedly been invited to star in a film by Mamat Khalid^[6] but declined; she also landed a cameo appearance in local horror fiction, Susuk.Jac also starred in a local Tamil film, Appalam, a film directed by Afdlin Shauki.

Jac also tried her hand in a musical theatre, Cuci The Musical Season 2 in 2010.^[7]

Fan club[link]

The current official fan club of Jaclyn Victor is jaclynvictor.com (under construction), which was opened in August 2007, having taken over from Jacsville which was launched in 2004, shortly after Victor won Malaysian Idol.

Voice[link]

Jac's voice was noted for its brilliant upper register, "smoky" middle and lower registers, flowing phrasing, and wide dynamic range. She was well suited to the high belted song. Her voice ranged from lower D (D3) below Middle C to the B (B5) above High C and the capabilities to reach high C(C6) effortlessly.

• Voice Type : Spinto Soprano
• Low/Mid-Notes : Tunggu Sekejap (D3), Ceritera Cinta (F3), Wajah (G3)
• High Notes (Belts) : Satu Harapan (D#5), Cinta Tiada Akhirnya (F#5), Dambaran Cinta (G5), Gemilang (G5-Bb5)
• Vocal Range : 3.5 octaves

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

EPs[link]

• Malaysian Idol CD Single: Jac (2004, Sony BMG)
• Wajah (2005, Sony BMG)
• Satu Harapan (2007, Sony BMG)

Compilations[link]

• Malaysian Idol Karaoke (with Danell Lee) (2005, Karaoke CD/VCD, Sony BMG)
• Jubilee (Compilation Christian Album) (2007, AION Music)
• Keunggulan Jaclyn Victor (Compilation of her well known hits) (2011, 2CD/1VCD Sony Music)

Singles[link]

• In a Dream (2002, released only in independent music circles)
• Gemilang (2004)
• Di Bawah Pohon Asmara (2005)
• Tiada Lagi Indah (2005)
• Cuma Setia (2005)
• Wajah (2005, theme song for "Bersamamu" TV3)
• Getaran Rinduku (2005)
• Cepat Cepat (2006)
• Ceritera Cinta (2006, duet with Rio Febrian)
• Without You (2006, duet with Same Same)
• Jealous (2007)
• Satu Harapan (2007)
• Cinta Tiada Akhirnya (2007)
• Kau Muzik di hatiku (2007, duet with Vince Chong) (OST of High School Musical 2 - Asian Edition)
• You're the Music in Me (2007, duet with Vince Chong) (OST of High School Musical 2 - Asian Edition)
• Dambaran Cinta (2008, theme song for Apa Kata Hati)
• Bertamu Di Kalbu (2009)
• Cinta Ada (A collaboration with Dato' Sheila Majid & Karen Kong) (2009)
• Inilah Malaysia (2009, featuring Arch Little Danielle)(for the Lagu 1Malaysia Kita Song Competition)
• Ku Tak Bisa (2010)
• Di Mana Di Mana (A collaboration with Ning Baizura and Shila) (2011)
• Beribu Sesalan (A collaboration with Ning Baizura and Shila) (2011)
• Sebelah Jiwaku (first single under the KRU Studios label)

Music videos[link]

• Gemilang
• Wajah
• Cinta (duet with Misha Omar)
• Without You (duet with Same Same)
• Cepat-Cepat
• Ceritera Cinta (duet with Rio Febrian)
• Ipoh Mali (as featuring artiste)
• Satu Harapan
• You're the Music in Me (2007, duet with Vince Chong)
• Bertamu di Kalbu (2009)
• Koleksi Gemilang (2009)
• Beribu Sesalan (2011, a collaboration with Ning Baizura & Shila Amzah)

Awards[link]

• Hitz. FM Best Newcomer Award - March 12, 2005
• Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian - Most Popular New Female Artist - April 13, 2005
• Malaysia's Global Chinese Recommended Golden Arts Award (Music Category) - July 16, 2005
• XIII Shanghai Asian Music Festival Golden Prize - October 28, 2005
• RTM Hits 1 - January 21, 2006
  • Best Song Award - Gemilang
  • Best Performance Award
• TV3 Anugerah Juara Lagu - February 5, 2006
  • Juara Lagu Best Ballad Award - Gemilang
  • Song Of The Year Award - Gemilang
• Anugerah Planet Muzik (Singapore) - March 24, 2006
  • Best Female Artist
• 13th Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) Malaysia - April 29, 2006
  • Best New Artist
  • Best Arrangement in a Song
  • Best Pop Album
  • Album of the Year
• URS Magazine Award
  • Non-malay glamour artist
• 14th Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) Malaysia - April 28, 2007
  • Best Female Vocal Performance in an Album
• IKON MALAYSIA
  • Winner of Ikon Malaysia - Solo
• Anugerah Era 2007
  • Chosen Local English Artiste - Ipoh Mali/Point Blanc
• Anugerah Juara Lagu 27 January 2008
  • Best Vocal Performance Ceritera Cinta (duet with Lah, from VE)
• Red Box Karaoke Chart 2008 Awards
  • No. 6 - Ceritera Cinta
• Shout! Awards 2009
  • Power Vocal Award
• Festival Filem Malaysia ke-22
  • Most Promising Actress (Talentime)
• Anugerah Skrin 2009
  • Special Jury Award - Anugerah Yasmin Ahmad (Talentime)
• Anugerah Planet Muzik 2011
  • Best Vocal Performance in a Group (collaboration with Ning Baizura & Shila Amzah)

Concerts[link]

• • Zoom in with Jaclyn Victor (2005)
  • Konsert Fenomena Jaclyn Victor & Misha Omar (2005)
  • Sunday Nite Live at Planet Hollywood (2006)
  • Zoom in with Jaclyn Victor (2006)
  • Konsert Fenomena Jaclyn Victor & Dayang Nurfaizah (2006)
  • Down Memory Lane with Jaclyn Victor (2007)
  • Malam Gemilang Ekslusif bersama Jaclyn Victor @ Planet Hollywood (2007)
  • Hard Rock Cafe's Pinktober LIVE (Special Showcase) (2010)

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jaclyn Victor

• Jaclyn Victor on Myspace
• Complete MP3 Database
• The 8 Unit (Management)

Elon Musk
Musk in 2008.
Born	(1971-06-28) June 28, 1971 (age 40) Pretoria, South Africa[1]
Residence	Bel Air, Los Angeles, California
Citizenship	United States[2]
Education	B.S. in Physics and B.A. Economics from University of Pennsylvania
Occupation	Engineer, inventor, entrepreneur
Known for	Co-founder of Zip2, PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors
Salary	$1[3]
Net worth	$2 billion (2012)[2]
Title	CEO and CTO of SpaceX, Chairman of SolarCity, CEO of Tesla Motors
Political party	Independent[4]
Spouse	Justine Musk 2000–2008 Talulah Riley 2010–2012
Children	Five sons

Elon Musk (born June 28, 1971) is a South African-born American business magnate, engineer and inventor. He is best known for co-founding SpaceX, Tesla Motors and X.com, which later became Paypal after acquiring the service. He is currently the CEO and Chief Designer of SpaceX, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and Chairman of SolarCity. While at those companies, Musk co-designed the first viable electric car of the modern era^[5], the Tesla Roadster, a private successor to the Space Shuttle, Falcon 9/Dragon, and the world's largest Internet payment system, PayPal.

Early life[link]

Elon Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, the son of a Canadian-American mother and a South African father. His maternal grandfather was from Minnesota, and had moved to Saskatchewan, where Musk's mother was born. His father is an engineer and his mother is an author, nutritionist and model, appearing on the cover of New York Magazine in 2011 and a Time Magazine supplement in 2010^[6].

Musk bought his first computer at age 10 and taught himself how to program;^[7] by the age of 12 he sold his first commercial software for about $500, a space game called Blastar.^[7]

After matriculating at Pretoria Boys High School he left home in 1988 at the age of 17, without his parents' support and in part because of the prospect of compulsory service in the South African military: "I don't have an issue with serving in the military per se, but serving in the South African army suppressing black people just didn't seem like a really good way to spend time".^[7] He wanted to move to the US, saying: "It is where great things are possible".^[8]

In 1992, after spending two years at Queen's University, Elon left Canada, pursuing business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania on a full scholarship. From the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, he received an undergraduate degree, and stayed on another year to finish a second bachelor's degree in physics.^[9] His undergraduate degrees behind him, and drawing inspiration from innovators such as Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla,^[10] Musk then considered three areas he wanted to get into that were "important problems that would most affect the future of humanity", as he said later, "One was the Internet, one was clean energy, and one was space".^[7]

Career[link]

In 1995, Musk went on to a graduate program in applied physics and materials science at Stanford. He stayed two days before dropping out to start Zip2, which provided online content publishing software for news organizations, with his brother Kimbal Musk. In 1999, Compaq's AltaVista division acquired Zip2 for US$307 million in cash and US$34 million in stock options.^[11]

PayPal[link]

In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and e-mail payment company. One year later, in a 50/50 merger^[12], X.com acquired Confinity^[13], operator of the then largest auction payments service PayPal. Musk was a principal architect behind the purchase, which hinged on his belief in the emerging online-transfer, or “P2P” technology.^[13] Musk believed that the Confinity sub-brand would become the necessary vehicle to incorporate and develop a person-to-person payment platform within X.com.^[13] The combined company at first adopted X.com as the corporate name, but in February 2001, X.com changed its legal name to PayPal Inc. Musk was instrumental in the new PayPal’s focus on a global payment system and departure from the core financial offerings of X.com.^[14]

PayPal’s early growth was due in large part to a successful viral growth campaign created by Musk.^[15] In October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for US$1.5 billion in stock.^[16] Before its sale, Musk, the company's largest shareholder, owned 11.7% of PayPal's shares.^[17]

SpaceX[link]

Musk with President Obama at the Falcon 9 launch site in 2010

In June 2002, Musk founded his third company, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX),^[18] of which he is currently the CEO and CTO. SpaceX develops and manufactures space launch vehicles with a focus on advancing the state of rocket technology. The company's first two launch vehicles are the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets and its first spacecraft is Dragon^[19].

On 23 December 2008, SpaceX was awarded a $1.6 billion NASA contract for 12 flights of their Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, replacing the Space Shuttle after it retired in 2011. Initially, Falcon 9/Dragon will replace the cargo transport function of the Shuttle and astronaut transport will be handled by the Soyuz. However, SpaceX has designed Falcon 9/Dragon with astronaut transport in mind and the Augustine commission has recommended that astronaut transport be handled by commercial companies like SpaceX.^[20]

Musk views space exploration as an important step in expanding—if not preserving—the consciousness of human life.^[21] Musk has said that multiplanetary life may serve as a hedge against threats to the survival of the human species. "An asteroid or a super volcano could destroy us, and we face risks the dinosaurs never saw: An engineered virus, inadvertent creation of a micro black hole, catastrophic global warming or some as-yet-unknown technology could spell the end of us. Humankind evolved over millions of years, but in the last sixty years atomic weaponry created the potential to extinguish ourselves. Sooner or later, we must expand life beyond this green and blue ball—or go extinct." Musk's goal is to reduce the cost of human spaceflight by a factor of 100. He founded SpaceX with $100 million of his early fortune. He remains chief executive officer and chief technology officer of the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company.

In seven years, SpaceX has designed the family of Falcon launch vehicles and the Dragon multi-purpose spacecraft from the ground-up. In September 2009, SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket became the first privately funded liquid-fueled vehicle to put a satellite into Earth orbit. NASA selected SpaceX to be part of the first program that entrusts private companies to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. This contract, which has a minimum value of $1.6 billion and a maximum value of $3.1 billion, has become a cornerstone of the Space Station's continued access to cargo delivery and return. In addition to these services, SpaceX's goals include simultaneously lowering the price of orbital spaceflight and improving reliability, both by an order of magnitude, while creating the first fully reusable orbital launch vehicle. In the coming years, Musk will focus on delivering astronauts to the International Space Station, but has stated his personal goal of eventually enabling human exploration and settlement of Mars. In a 2011 interview, he said he hopes to send humans to Mars' surface within 10–20 years.^[22]. On May 25, 2012, the SpaceX Dragon vehicle docked with the ISS, making history as the first commercial company to launch and dock a vehicle to the International Space Station.

Tesla Motors[link]

Musk is also co-founder and head of product design at Tesla Motors, where he led development of the Tesla Roadster, the first production electric sports car. Musk's interest in electric vehicles extends long before the creation of Tesla. He originally went to Silicon Valley to do a PhD in Applied Physics and Materials Science at Stanford, where his goal was to create ultracapacitors with enough energy to power electric cars.

Musk provided almost all of the capital for Tesla's first two funding rounds and continued to invest in every subsequent financing round. As a result of the financial crisis in 2008 and a forced layoff at Tesla,^[23] Musk agreed to assume the additional responsibility of CEO.

Tesla Motors previously built an electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster, and has shipped over 2,200 vehicles to 31 countries. Tesla expects to be in production with its four-door Model S sedan by July 2012 and unveiled its third product the Model X, aimed at the SUV/minivan market, on February 9, 2012. Model X is scheduled to begin production in late 2013.

In addition to its own cars, Tesla sells electric powertrain systems to Daimler for the Smart EV and Mercedes A Class, and to Toyota for the upcoming electric RAV4. Musk was also able to bring in both companies as long term investors in Tesla.

Musk is principally responsible for an overarching business strategy that aims to deliver affordable electric vehicles to mass-market consumers. His vision was to create the Tesla Roadster as a means to that end—a car aimed specifically at affluent early adopters, whose purchase of the sports car would subsidize the research and development costs of lower priced models of electric vehicles. From the start of Tesla, Musk has been a champion of the Model S, a four-door family sedan with an anticipated base price of half that of the Roadster. Musk has also favored building a sub-$30,000 subcompact and building and selling electric vehicle powertrain components so that other automakers can produce electric vehicles at affordable prices without having to develop the products in house.^[24] Several mainstream publications have compared him with Henry Ford for his revolutionary work on advanced vehicle powertrains.^[25]

He is reported to have a 29% stake in Tesla, which is currently valued above $1 billion, as of March 2012.^[26][27]

SolarCity[link]

Musk provided the initial concept for SolarCity, where he remains the largest shareholder and chairman of the board. SolarCity is the largest provider of solar power systems in the United States. His cousin Lyndon Rive is the CEO and co-founder.^[28][29] The underlying motivation for funding both SolarCity and Tesla is to help combat global warming.^[30]

Philanthropy[link]

Musk is Chairman of the Musk Foundation, which focuses its philanthropic efforts on science education, pediatric health and clean energy. He is a trustee of the X Prize Foundation, promoting renewable energy technologies. He sits on the boards of The Space Foundation, The National Academies Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, The Planetary Society, and Stanford Engineering Advisory Board. Musk is also a member of the board of trustees of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

In 2010, Musk began a multi-million dollar program through his foundation to donate solar power systems for critical needs in disaster areas. The first such solar power installation occurred on a hurricane response center in Alabama that had been neglected by state and federal aid. To make it clear that this was not serving Musk's commercial interests, SolarCity noted that it had no present or planned business activity in Alabama.^[31]

In 2001, Musk had plans for a "Mars Oasis" project, which would land a miniature experimental greenhouse on Mars, containing food crops growing on Martian regolith.^[32][33] He put this project on hold when he came to the conclusion that the fundamental problem preventing humanity from becoming a true spacefaring civilization was the lack of advancement in rocket technology. He has sought to address this by founding SpaceX to create revolutionary new interplanetary rockets.

His long term goal is to help humanity through SpaceX by creating a true spacefaring civilization.^[34] Musk's philosophy and description of what is needed to solve the problem are provided in the IEEE podcast "Elon Musk: a founder of Paypal, Tesla Motors, and SpaceX"^[35] and article "Risky Business."^[33]

In April 2012 Musk joined The Giving Pledge, offering a moral commitment to donate the majority of his fortune to philanthropy.^[36] Musk became a member of the campaign first popularized by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates with a class of 12 of America’s wealthiest families and individuals, which included Arthur Blank and Michael Moritz.^[36]

Awards and recognition[link]

Listed as one of Time Magazine's 100 people who most affect the world in 2010. Jon Favreau, director of the Iron Man movies, describes in his article how Musk was the inspiration for Favreau's film depiction of genius billionaire Tony Stark.^[37]

The world governing body for aerospace records, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, presented Musk in 2010 with the highest award in air & space, the FAI Gold Space Medal, for designing the first privately developed rocket to reach orbit. Prior awardees include Neil Armstrong, Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites and John Glenn.

Named as one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire magazine.^[21]

In June 2011, Musk was awarded the $500,000 Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization^[38]

In February 2011, Forbes listed Musk as one of "America's 20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 And Under".^[39]

Recognized as a Living Legend in Aviation in 2010 by the Kitty Hawk Foundation for creating the successor to the Space Shuttle (Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft). Other awardees include Buzz Aldrin and Richard Branson.^[40]

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics George Low award for the most outstanding contribution in the field of space transportation in 2007/2008. Musk was recognized for his design of the Falcon 1, the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to reach orbit.^[41]

National Space Society's Von Braun Trophy in 2008/2009, given for leadership of the most significant achievement in space. Prior recipients include Burt Rutan and Steve Squyres.^[42]

National Wildlife Federation 2008 National Conservation Achievement award for Tesla Motors and SolarCity. Other 2008 awardees include journalist Thomas Friedman, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and Florida Governor Charlie Crist.^[43]

The Aviation Week 2008 Laureate for the most significant achievement worldwide in the space industry.^[44]

R&D Magazine Innovator of the Year for 2007 for SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity.^[45]

Automotive Executive of the Year (worldwide) in 2010 for demonstrating technology leadership and innovation via Tesla Motors. Prior awardees include Bill Ford Jr, Bob Lutz, Dieter Zetsche and Lee Iacocca. Musk is the youngest ever recipient of this award.^[46]

Inc Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2007 for his work on Tesla and SpaceX.^[47]

2007 Index Design award for his design of the Tesla Roadster.^[48]

Global Green 2006 product design award for his design of the Tesla Roadster, presented by Mikhail Gorbachev.^[49]

Honorary doctorate in design from the Art Center College of Design ^[50]

Musk is a Director of the Planetary Society, a Trustee of The X-Prize Foundation and a member of the Stanford University Engineering Advisory Board. He has previously served as a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.^[51]

In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Musk was ranked as the #10 (tied with rocketry pioneer and scientist Wernher von Braun) most popular space hero.^[52]

In 2010, Musk was elected to the board of trustees of the California Institute of Technology.^[53]

In 2011, Musk was honored as a Legendary Leader at the Churchill Club Awards.^[54]

Interests[link]

Musk has described himself as a workaholic who routinely invests 100 hours per week in running Tesla Motors and SpaceX, often flying in a fuel-efficient corporate jet.^[55]

The SpaceX factory was used as a shooting location for Iron Man 2 and Musk has a cameo in the movie.^[56] In addition, Jon Favreau, director of the Iron Man movies, describes in his article how Musk was the inspiration for Favreau's film depiction of genius billionaire Tony Stark.^[37]

Musk previously owned and later sold a McLaren F1 sports car and a Czech made jet trainer aircraft Aero L-39.^[57] The 1994 model Dassault Falcon 900 aircraft used in the film Thank You for Smoking is registered to Musk (N900SX). Musk executive-produced the film and had a small cameo role as the pilot.^[58]

Family[link]

Musk lives in Bel-Air, California. He recently ended a four year relationship with his second wife, British actress Talulah Riley.^[59] Musk has five sons with his first wife, the Canadian-born author Justine Musk, whom he met while both were students at Queen's University and whom he married in 2000.^[60]

Musk's sister Tosca is the founder of Musk Entertainment and producer of various movies.^[61][62] Musk himself was the executive producer of her first movie, called Puzzled.^[63] His brother Kimbal is the CEO of a social search company OneRiot and owner of The Kitchen restaurant in Boulder, Colorado.^[64]

Controversies[link]

In October 2008, after Musk had confirmed an earlier report^[65] that Tesla Motors had only $9 million in cash,^[66] he was reported to have hired an outside IT contractor to go through all of the company's email and instant messages, then had a forensic investigator lift fingerprints from a printout discarded near a copier used to leak the email. The email implicated employee Peng Zhou as the source of the company's reported financial status. Zhou had sought to frame other employees at Tesla by claiming in his leaked emails that he was a four-year employee. Musk offered Zhou the option of apologizing to the company and resigning, which he did, rather than face prosecution.^[67]

On May 26, 2009, former Tesla Motors CEO Martin Eberhard filed suit in San Mateo County, California, against Tesla Motors and Musk for slander, libel, and breach of contract. The case hinged on the question of who could rightly be called a "founder" of Tesla.^[68] On July 29, 2009, a San Mateo County Superior Court judge struck down a claim by Eberhard, who asked to be declared one of only two founders of the company.^[68] Tesla said in a statement that the ruling is "consistent with Tesla's belief in a team of founders, including the company's current CEO and Product Architect Elon Musk, and Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel, who were both fundamental to the creation of Tesla from inception."^[69] In early August, Eberhard withdrew the case.^[70] The parties reached a final settlement on September 21. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but the agreement includes a provision that the parties will consider Eberhard, Musk, JB Straubel, Marc Tarpenning, and Ian Wright to be the five co-founders.^[71]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Elon Musk

• Elon Musk Twitter
• The Musk Foundation web site
• Viral Marketing, MBAs and pesky governments, Elon talks at Stanford (October 8, 2003)
• Statement of Elon Musk at House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Hearings on the Future Market for Commercial Space (April 20, 2005)
• Gimien, Mark (August 17, 1999). "Fast Track". Salon.com. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/08/17/elon_musk/index.html. 
• Hoffman, Carl (June 2007). "Elon Musk Is Betting His Fortune on a Mission Beyond Earth's Orbit". Wired Magazine. http://www.wired.com/science/space/magazine/15-06/ff_space_musk. 
• Carlson, Nicholas (February 19, 2008). "Elon Musk's Tesla caught on video smoking Scoble and Calacanis". Valleywag. http://valleywag.com/358015/elon-musks-tesla-caught-on-video-smoking-scoble-and-calacanis. 
• Kanellos, Michael (February 15, 2008). "Elon Musk on rockets, sports cars, and solar power". CNET News.com. http://news.cnet.com/Elon-Musk-on-rockets%2C-sports-cars%2C-and-solar-power/2008-11389_3-6230661.html. 
• Chafkin, Max (December 2007). "Entrepreneur of the Year: Elon Musk". Inc. Magazine. http://www.inc.com/magazine/20071201/entrepreneur-of-the-year-elon-musk.html. 
• Bailey, Brandon (May 2010). "Elon Musk: Will his Silicon Valley story have a Hollywood ending?". San Jose Mercury News. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_15138666. 
• History of PayPal

Interviews[link]

• "An interview with Elon Musk". HobbySpace. August 5, 2003. http://www.hobbyspace.com/AAdmin/archive/Interviews/Systems/ElonMusk.html. 
• "Lift off with Elon Musk". Carte Blanche. September 4, 2005. http://www.carteblanche.co.za/Display/Display.asp?Id=2879. 
• Bergin, Chris (January 20, 2006). "SpaceX's Musk and Thompson Q and A". nasaspaceflight.com. http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2006/01/spacexs-musk-and-thompson-q-and-a/. 
• Video interview of Elon Musk by Zadi Diaz of EPIC FU, weekly web show that covers online pop culture (June 17, 2008)
• Gray, Sadie (January 4, 2009). "Forget the bungalow, retire to Mars". Sunday Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article5433496.ece. 
• "Uber Entrepreneur: An Evening with Elon Musk" video at the Churchill Club via FORA.TV (January 4, 2009)
• onInnovation
• An interview at the Founders Showcase. (August 5, 2010)
• An interview on the Kevin Pollak Chat Show. (September 17, 2009)
• Elon Musk: 'I'm planning to retire to Mars' a video interview for the Guardian. (August 1, 2010)
• An interview about commercial space flights on 60 minutes. (March 18, 2012)
• A 20 minute interview about sending humans to Mars with BBC's Jonathan Amos. (March 20, 2012)
• Elon Musk on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on April 10, 2012

Ronald John Holland (born 1947 in Auckland, New Zealand)^[1] is a yacht designer, who came to prominence in the 1970s with his successful racing designs, and is now best known for his superyachts such as Mirabella V and Ethereal. He is based in Kinsale, Ireland.

Background[link]

Holland started competitive sailing at the age of eight and was apprenticed as a boatbuilder in Auckland, where he built his first design, the 26' sloop White Rabbit in 1966.^[1]

In the USA[link]

SY Julianna - designed by Holland

While working in Florida, he designed the 24' Eygthene, which won the 1973 Quarter Ton Cup. (The name of the boat was a pun on the New Zealand pronunciation of the word 'eighteen': quarter-ton yachts are rated at 18-feet under the IOR rating rule). The success of Eygthene led to a commission to design a One-ton class yacht for Irish businessman Hugh Coveney. Golden Apple enabled Holland to set up as independent designer, and he relocated to County Cork in Ireland.

In the Republic of Ireland[link]

'In 1974 he designed, and Killian Bushe built 'Golden Shamrock, his 30' design for the Half Ton Cup in la Rochelle. This was followed in 1975 By 'Golden Leprechain' another variation of the Half-ton Class. The Shamrocks went into production in Cork. One of these boats, Silver Shamrock, built lightly by Killian Bushe at South Coast Boatyard and steered by Harold Cudmore won the 1976 Half-ton Cup in Trieste, Italy.^[2]

This was followed by 'Silver Shamrcok III' in 1977 which was built in cold moulded spruce for the Half Ton Cup in Sydney Australia. It was the year of Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee. The boat should have won the Half Ton Cup, but lost her mast in the last race. The production version of Silver Shamock III was called the Shamrock Silver Jubilee or Nicholson Half Tonner. Probably the best known of these yachts is Grimalkin, which took part in the Fastnet Race of 1979, and became the subject of a book entitled "Left for Dead: The Untold Story of the Tragic 1979 Fastnet Disaster". It should be noted that although Grimalkin was abandoned at sea, she was later salvaged afloat and still sails.

Meanwhile Holland's Nicholson 33 design, for the English boatbuilder Camper & Nicholson, had begun production and one of these, Golden Delicious, won the 1975 Fastnet Race. Other remarkable boat designs include 'Big Apple', 'Regardless', 'Golden Apple of the Sun' and ' Silver Apple of the Moon'. Further commissions followed, including a new Morning Cloud for the former British Prime Minister Edward Heath. Holland's designs featured prominently in the 1977 and 1979 Admiral's Cup series of races in Cowes.

His 40-footer Imp won the 1977 Fastnet Race. This led to commissions for the 80-foot Maxi Class yachts Kialoa and Condor and for a series of designs for Finnish yachtbuilder Nautor's series of Swan yachts between 1979 and 1990. A Holland 30, Screw Loose, won the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 1979.

Condor, the Maxi Class yacht built in 1981, still sails as a passenger boat in Australia's Whitsunday Islands.

'NCB Ireland' was the Irish entry in the Volvo Ocean Race. Although built and launched with great fanfare, she did not perform as well as expected or as well as the more adventurous designs from the southern hemisphere sporting a Mizzen rig.

The 103-foot Whirlwind, launched in 1986, was Holland's largest design to date and one of the first of a new breed of superyacht - large yachts which used new technologies to provide strong sailing performance without requiring a large crew.^[3]

The 247-foot Mirabella V, launched in 2003, was not only Holland's largest design, but also the largest ever single-masted sailing yacht.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ron Holland Design