Mr. Andrew F. Kay

President and CEO of Kaypro Computers, a personal computer firm, who also serves as Senior Business Advisor to Accelerated Composites, LLC, he is a 1940 graduate of MIT. He started his career with Bendix; followed by two years at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and later in 1952, founded Non-Linear Systems, a manufacturer of digital instrumentation. NLS developed a reputation for providing rugged durability in critical applications for everything from submarines to spacecraft. At NLS he invented the digital voltmeter. In the 1980s Non-Linear Systems founded Kaypro an American home/personal computer manufacturer. The company was founded to develop computers to compete with the then-popular Osborne 1 portable microcomputer. Kaypro produced a line of rugged, portable CP/M-based computers sold with an extensive software bundle which supplanted its competitors and quickly became one of the top selling personal computer lines of the early 1980s. While exceptionally loyal to its original consumer base, Kaypro was slow to adapt to the changing computer market and the advent of IBM PC compatible technology. It faded from the mainstream before the end of the decade and was eventually forced into filing for bankruptcy in 1992. He is also a founder of the Rotary Club of Del Mar, California. As a member of the Board of Directors of Johnson O'Connor Research Institute, he has pursued the advancement of education with particular attention to the development of "a thinking vocabulary" as a basic component of creating leadership capabilities for managers in science and technology fields. He was awarded Victorian of the Year in 1998 and is a Director of the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation and the World Literacy Foundation