Microsoft Corporation
Dr. Nathan Myhrvold, 36, is group vice president of Applications and Content and reports to
Microsoft CEO Bill Gates as a member of the Office of the President. The Applications and
Content group comprises a number of Microsoft divisions, including Desktop Applications,
Consumer, Research, and Microsoft On-line Systems. This group, which had 1994 annual
revenues exceeding $3.2 billion, creates an extensive line of products ranging from Microsoft
Word and Excel, the world’s most popular productivity applications for personal computers,
to multimedia content titles such as Microsoft Encarta and Cinemania.
Prior to this position, Dr. Myhrvold was senior vice president of Microsoft’s Advanced Technology Division, responsible for advanced product development in areas such as interactive television (ITV), advanced graphics, and new forms of consumer computing. He also founded, and continues to manage, Microsoft Research - a research lab dedicated to creating new technology in the support of the company’s vision for the evolution of personal computing.
Dr. Myhrvold joined Microsoft as director of special projects in 1986 when Microsoft acquired Dynamical Systems, a Berkeley software company which he founded and was President and CEO. Before founding Dynamical Systems, Dr. Myhrvold was a postdoctoral fellow in the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at Cambridge University. He worked with Professor Stephen Hawking on research in cosmology, quantum field theory in curved space time, and quantum theories of gravitation.
Myhrvold holds a doctorate in theoretical/mathematical physics and a master’s degree in mathematical economics from Princeton University. He also has a master’s degree in geophysics and space physics and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, both from the University of California. His education has also included certificates in mountain climbing, formula car racing, photography, and French cooking.
In May 1993, Dr. Myhrvold joined the board of trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, one of the world’s foremost institutions for pure scientific research. He serves on the advisory board of Princeton University’s department of physics, and in January 1994, he was appointed by Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown to the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council.
When he takes time off, Myhrvold works as an assistant chef at one of Seattle’s leading French restaurants. He has competed twice in the world championship of barbecue in Memphis, Tennessee, winning first and second place titles.