Joseph (Joe) A. Piscopo

Founder of Pansophic Systems in 1969, Piscopo built the Lisle, Illinois software firm into a major enterprise before retiring as its Chairman and C.E.O. in 1987 after 18 years. Previously, he had worked as a programmer at the Joliet Arsenal (IL), then as Programming Manager for a large scale IBM 360 system at Montgomery Ward & Co. (Chicago), where he was responsible for a large catalog inventory of programs. He also served as Technical Vice President of a small software firm in Chicago.

Pansophic had annual revenues of $230 million, 1600 employees, and customers in 60 countries. Its major products, each with over 10,000 licensed mainframe users, were Panvalet, a source program management system, and Easytrieve, a report writer. Pansophic's first IPO was in 1981, then another in 1983. Its common stock was listed on the NYSE from 1985 until October 1991, when it was acquired by CA, Inc. (NYSE: "CA") for $300 million in cash.

Piscopo has served as an investor and Chairman of Software Artistry, Inc., an Indianapolis software firm (NASDAQ: "SWRT"), from 1992–1998. Software Artistry's annual revenues were $50 million from its help desk and customer service software products. SWRT completed its IPO in March 1995 and was then acquired by IBM's Tivoli division in January 1998 for $200 million in cash.

From 1997 onward, he has been an angel investor in many private software firms and an investor in a number of technology venture funds. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the University of Illinois Foundation in October 1995. Piscopo holds a B.S. degree in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1965) and is a graduate of the Owner/President Management (OPM) program at the Harvard Business School (1982). He resides in Oak Brook, Illinois with his wife, Mary Lou. They have two sons.