Ray Noorda

Ray Noorda
Ray Noorda
Born	Raymond John Noorda; 19 June 1924 (age 102); Ogden, Utah, U.S.
Died	9 October 2006 (aged 82); Orem, Utah, U.S.
Occupation	Computer industry executive
Years active	1982–1994 (Novell CEO)
Known for	CEO and chairman of Novell

Raymond John "Ray" Noorda (June 19, 1924 – October 9, 2006) was a prominent American executive in the computer industry, known for his role as CEO of Novell from 1982 until 1994 and as chairman through the same year.

Early life

Noorda was born in Ogden, Utah, to parents who had emigrated from the Netherlands. He attended Weber State College and served two years in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he specialized as an electronics technician focusing on radar systems. He earned a bachelor's degree in engineering with cum laude honors from the University of Utah in 1949. Prior to joining several companies in California, Noorda was employed by General Electric until 1971.

Personal life

A devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Noorda married Lewena "Tye" Taylor in 1950; the couple later received their sealing in the Salt Lake Temple. Throughout his life, he held various leadership positions within the LDS Church, including serving as a counselor in both branch and stake Sunday school presidencies.

Novell

In 1983, Noorda assembled the SuperSet team—comprising Drew Major, James Bills, Dale Niebaur, and Kyle Powell—with the initial goal of creating a disk sharing system for CP/M. Instead, they developed a highly successful file sharing network operating system tailored for IBM-compatible personal computers, which became known as Novell NetWare.

During Noorda’s tenure, Novell expanded its portfolio by acquiring influential companies such as Digital Research, Unix System Laboratories, WordPerfect, and Borland's Quattro Pro, aiming to counter Microsoft's growing dominance. Microsoft’s CEO Bill Gates acknowledged Noorda’s vigorous opposition to Microsoft and his backing of Federal Trade Commission antitrust efforts that resulted in limitations on Microsoft's operating system licensing practices.

Noorda remained at Novell's helm until 1993 and was succeeded by Robert Frankenberg in 1994. Around 1992, he introduced the term co-opetition to characterize Novell's competitive yet collaborative business approach.

Later career

Until his passing, Noorda controlled the Canopy Group, which he established in 1992 through the Noorda Family Trust (NFT Ventures, Inc.). Among its assets was Caldera, which purchased Unix-related assets from the Santa Cruz Operation in 2000; these assets had originally been acquired from Novell in 1995. In 1996, Caldera also obtained Digital Research’s assets from Novell and subsequently initiated a lawsuit against Microsoft—Caldera v. Microsoft—mirroring allegations previously pursued by the Federal Trade Commission and United States Department of Justice during the early 1990s. The dispute concluded with a $280 million settlement paid to Caldera in 2000.

Noorda was honored with honorary doctorates from both the University of Utah in 1994 and Weber State University in 1995. Due to advancing age and health challenges—including Alzheimer's disease and heart conditions—he gradually withdrew from active management of Canopy after 1998.

In recognition of his achievements, he was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1995.

He fathered four sons and one daughter; tragically, his daughter died by suicide in 2005. Ray Noorda died on October 9, 2006, at his residence in Orem, Utah, at age 82.

External links

(canopy.com)
Surfing a High Tech Wave: The Early History of Novell 1980-1990