Ray Ozzie is an independent software entrepreneur and pioneer in the field of social productivity, better known as CSCW (Computer-Supported Cooperative Work). Ray Ozzie is the founder and CEO of Talko, a company that provides new generation mobile communication applications and services. Since late 2012, Ray Ozzie has served as Microsoft's Chief Software Architect and Chief Technical Officer, playing a leading role in technology strategy and development composition previously led by Bill Gates.
Ozzie joined Microsoft in 2005 when the company acquired Groove Networks, a dynamic collaborative software and services company composed of small teams that Ray Ozzie had founded and operated in 1997. Prior to Groove, Ozzie founded and led Iris Associates and developed Lotus Notes. After about ten years, Iris was acquired by Lotus Notes (now IBM). During Ray Ozzie's tenure at Lotus Notes, under Ozzie's leadership, Lotus Notes grew into major software used by millions of global enterprises in communication and social productivity. Before developing Notes, Ray Ozzie worked at Lotus developing the electronic spreadsheet programs VisiCalc and TK!Solver.
Ozzie studied computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which awarded Ray Ozzie the Distinguished Alumni Award. This is also where Ray Ozzie first learned the significance of online communities and social interactive systems as a system developer based on the PLATO project.
One of the seven masters of Microsoft's Windows system, Ozzie was selected as Person of the Year by PC Magazine and was inducted into the Computer Electronics Hall of Fame. Ray Ozzie has had the honor of being appointed as a Technology Pioneer of the World Economic Forum and has received numerous awards including the IEEE Computer Society's W. Wallace McDowell Award and SD Visionary Award. In 2004, Ozzie was appointed as a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and in 2010 was appointed as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Ray Ozzie currently serves as a board member of EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) and has served as a member of the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board and NRC committees.