Abbey Silverstone
Abbey Silverstone | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Illinois |
| Occupation | Technology executive |
| Known for | Co-founder of Silicon Graphics (SGI) |
Abbey Silverstone is a pioneering executive in the early computer industry, known for co-founding Silicon Graphics (SGI) alongside Jim Clark. He held the position of the company's inaugural Vice President of Operations until 1989.
Silverstone obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Administration from the University of Illinois, where he was involved with the IBM 650 in developing registration and grading systems. In addition to his academic pursuits, he had a distinguished fencing career, earning all-American honors for three consecutive years and securing several international medals.
After moving to California in 1965, Silverstone joined Xerox Corp. in 1973. There, he played a key role in creating and manufacturing the first networked office environment at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). This project featured groundbreaking technologies such as early personal computers (Alto), high-speed laser printing devices, and the initial corporate network based on Ethernet, which was later implemented at President Jimmy Carter’s White House in 1977.
In 1981, Silverstone was responsible for designing the packaging of the commercial workstation Xerox Star 8010. The following year, together with Clark and graduate students from Stanford, he co-established Silicon Graphics. He managed SGI’s Operations Division until 1988 before moving into consulting roles.
In 1999, Silverstone was appointed President and CEO of Netsol Technologies. The next year, he assumed the CEO position at Multacom, a telecommunications firm facilitating trans-Pacific connections between Mainland China, the United States, and Taiwan.
Throughout his career, he has participated on multiple boards across the US and China and now provides guidance to emerging enterprises while semi-retired.