Avie Tevanian
Avadis Tevanian | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth year and age Westbrook, Maine, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Software engineer, technology executive |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Known for | Development of Mach Kernel, NeXTSTEP, macOS; senior vice president of software engineering at Apple |
Avadis "Avie" Tevanian (born 1961) is an American software engineer notable for his tenure as senior vice president of software engineering at Apple between 1997 and 2003, followed by his role as chief software technology officer until 2006. He played a pivotal role in transforming NeXTSTEP into what is now macOS. The Mach Kernel he helped develop serves as the core for Apple's macOS and iOS, with iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS evolving from iOS. Tevanian maintained a long-standing professional relationship with Steve Jobs. During his time at Carnegie Mellon University, he was a lead designer and engineer on the Mach operating system (Mach Kernel), which later became the foundation for NeXTSTEP at NeXT Inc..
Early life
Originating from Westbrook, Maine and of Armenian heritage, Tevanian began his career by replicating the 1980s arcade game Missile Command for the Xerox Alto and developing Mac Missiles! for Macintosh computers. He earned a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Rochester and completed both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, where he collaborated with Richard Rashid to develop the Mach operating system.
NeXT Inc.
At NeXT, Tevanian held the position of Vice President of Software Engineering, overseeing the software engineering team and architecting the NeXTSTEP operating system, which was built upon his earlier work with Mach.
Apple Inc.
Joining Apple, he was senior vice president of software engineering from 1997 until 2003 before advancing to chief software technology officer through 2006. He was instrumental in evolving NeXTSTEP into macOS, which subsequently gave rise to iOS.
Tevanian testified on behalf of the United States Department of Justice during the 2001 United States v. Microsoft trial.
In 2001, together with Bertrand Serlet, he spearheaded a confidential project initiated by Steve Jobs to license MacOS for use on Vaio laptops. Apple showcased this proposal to executives at Sony, who ultimately declined due to Vaio's recent positive sales momentum following a period of difficulties.
Theranos and Dolby Labs
After departing Apple in March 2006, Tevanian joined the boards of directors at both Dolby Labs and Theranos, Inc. He resigned from Theranos in late 2007 amid ongoing legal conflicts, citing doubts about the company's financial transparency and technological development.
In 2019, he reflected on his involvement with Theranos during "The Dropout," a six-episode podcast produced by ABC News. Regarding CEO Elizabeth Holmes’s management style, he stated: "I had witnessed many troubling events... Having worked under Steve Jobs, I saw some extreme behaviors, but Elizabeth raised it to an entirely different level.”
Other roles
In May 2006, Tevanian joined the board of Tellme Networks, which was subsequently acquired by Microsoft.
He took on the role of managing director at Elevation Partners beginning January 12, 2010.
In July 2015, he co-established NextEquity Partners and has been serving as Managing Director as of 2017.