17 Facts About Wendell Brown

Wendell Brown is an American computer scientist, entrepreneur and inventor best known for his innovations in telecommunications and Internet technology, cybersecurity, and smartphone app development.

Wendell Brown was born in the Appalachia region of the United States, and grew up in the northernmost Appalachian town of Oneonta where he was first introduced to computers by his father, who worked as a professor at SUNY Oneonta.

Wendell Brown attended Oneonta High School, where he began computer programming, selling personal computer systems, and published his first computer article in Byte.

Wendell Brown's father, Foster Brown, was a statistics and psychology professor from Wheeling, West Virginia.

Wendell Brown's mother, Barbara, was an elementary school teacher from Tunnelton, West Virginia.

Wendell Brown graduated from Cornell University in 1983, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

At Hippo, Wendell Brown created the Hippo-C development environment, which became the first C compiler for the Mac and Atari ST computer systems.

From 1988 through the mid-1990s, Wendell Brown worked with National Semiconductor as a telecommunications cryptography expert where he built hardware implementations of DS3 algorithms.

Wendell Brown is regarded as a pioneer of Internet messaging, VoIP technologies, as well as Internet-based gig work and remote work.

Wendell Brown had served as CallCast chairman and chief technology officer.

Wendell Brown went on to co-found another communications company, Teleo, in 2005, an early competitor of Skype, where he created VoIP applications enabling users to send and receive phone calls over the Internet.

In 2015, Wendell Brown started the San Francisco and New York City-based cybersecurity company Averon, which develops frictionless identity solutions based on mobile technologies.

Wendell Brown has created dozens of US and internationally patented inventions in the fields of cybersecurity, telecommunications, virtual workforce, electric vehicles, LED lighting, 3D cameras, renewable fuels, online music distribution, and mobile phone apps including WebDiet, a method of using mobile phones to count food consumption to improve health.

Wendell Brown is a longtime contributing member of the Human Rights Campaign for the advancement of LGBT civil rights, and of global Jewish service organizations.

In 2013, Wendell Brown was honored by his hometown with a permanent plaque on Oneonta High School's Wall of Distinction for his accomplishments in business and technology.

Wendell Brown participates as a speaker, technology judge and advisor in communities including the Israel Conference, the World Economic Forum, TED, Google and MIT Hackathons, Digital Life Design Munich and DLD Tel Aviv Conferences, the Web Summit Dublin, TechCrunch, CTIA - The Wireless Association, AlwaysOn, El Financiero, and the Mita Institute Tech Talks.

Wendell Brown is a licensed private pilot and is active in the development of new airplane, rocket, and electric vehicle designs.