15 November 2007

The British Computer Society (BCS) has bestowed the title of Distinguished Fellow to Scott McNealy, chairman of the board for SUN Microsystems. 

As Distinguished Fellow, Scott joins some of the top names in the history of the industry including Bill Gates and Sir Tim Berners Lee. 

BCS introduced the Distinguished Fellow award in 1971 and presents it in recognition of notable service to the advancement of computing, to date only 24 people have been selected for the title.

Scott McNealy is one of the four original founders of SUN Microsystems in 1982. During his time at the helm, SUN has developed new and innovative products to supplement its original networked workstations, including:

• The Java programming language
• OpenOffice
• The SPARC multi-core system
• The high-performance Niagara chip
• The Solaris Operating System

Although not a technical innovator, Scott McNealy has been recognised by BCS for his continued willingness to support and encourage the development of innovatory products which was a key determining factor in SUN Microsystems' impact as a market force in Open Systems and Network Computing.

Scott McNealy has been consistently recognised for his achievements. The awards and honours he has gained include:

• SDForum: Visionary Award 1998
• Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 1987
• The Computerworld Honors Leadership Awards: The Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Leadership Award for Global Integration 1998
• The Anderson School at UCLA  Exemplary Leadership in Management Award 2002
• IDG's CIO MAGAZINE: 20/20 VISION AWARDS: Identified as one of 20 innovators who made it possible 2002 (one of many media awards)
• Hope Awards: Technology for Children Award 2004
• JavaOne Conference: Lifetime Achievement Award 2006

David Tidey, chair of the BCS ELITE group which nominated Scott McNealy for the title, says: "As Chair and CEO of one of the "top five" businesses in the sector for over 20 years, Scott McNealy is clearly a deserved recipient of this title. The list of Distinguished Fellows embraces a broad church of key figures in the industry over the past fifty years, including as it does innovators in software, hardware and telecommunications.

"In helping to found, and in leading, a major computing-platform corporation for an extended period of time, it could reasonably be argued that Scott McNealy stands alongside such previous recipients as Gene Amdahl and Rob Wilmot."

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