Talk Title: Can Silicon Valley be a Meritocracy when it leaves out half of our population? Vivek Wadhwa is a Visiting Scholar, School of Information, UC-Berkeley; Director of Research, Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization, and Exec in Residence, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University; Senior Research Associate, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School; Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Halle Institute of Global Learning, Emory University; and faculty member and advisor at Singularity University. He helps students prepare for the real world; lectures in class; and leads groundbreaking research projects. He is also an advisor to several startup companies, a columnist for The Washington Post and Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and writes occasionally for several international publications. Prior to joining academia in 2005, Wadhwa founded two software companies. He started his career as a software developer and gained a deep understanding of the challenges in building computer systems. His quest to help solve some of I.T.'s most daunting problems began at New York--based investment banking powerhouse CS First Boston, where he was Vice President of Information Services. There he spearheaded the development of technology for creating computer systems that was so successful that CSFB decided to spin off that business unit into its own company, Seer Technologies. As Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Wadhwa helped grow the nascent startup into a $118 million publicly traded company. Wadhwa holds an MBA from New York University and a B.A. in Computing Studies from the University of Canberra, in Australia About TEDx? In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.) At our TEDxBayArea events, TEDTalks videos and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connections in a small group setting.

• published: 12 Dec 2011
• views: 3753