Alan Ashton | |
---|---|
Born |
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
May 7, 1942
Citizenship | United States |
Fields |
Computer science bioinformatics |
Institutions |
WordPerfect Corporation Novell |
Alma mater | University of Utah |
Known for | WordPerfect |
Spouse | Karen Jackman |
Children | 11 |
Alan C. Ashton (born May 7, 1942) is the co-founder of WordPerfect Corporation and a former professor at Brigham Young University.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ashton began his work in computer science in the University of Utah, studying computing and music in the early 1970s. In 1977 Ashton began work on word processing when he created a specification for an improved console-based word processor. His specification outlined various innovations at the time, including continuous documents, function key shortcuts, modeless editing, and primitive WYSIWYG formatting. Along with his student, Bruce Bastian, Ashton incorporated Satellite Software International, which would later become WordPerfect Corporation, in September 1979. In 1987, Ashton left Brigham Young University to serve full-time as president and chief executive officer of WordPerfect Corporation.
Ashton ran WordPerfect as a triumvirate, along with Bastian and W. E. "Pete" Peterson. Ashton and Bastian each controlled 49.5% of the company, and Peterson controlled 1%. While Ashton was the titular head of WordPerfect, Peterson ran the day-to-day operations, and was frequently misinterpreted as the head of the company by the press. Ashton's management style was hands-off. For a time, the entire development organization of WordPerfect reported directly to him.
In 1990 Ashton was identified by Forbes magazine as one of the 400 wealthiest individuals in the United States.
Ashton joined the Novell Corporation Board of Directors in 1994, and resigned in 1996.
Ashton is unrelated to Ashton-Tate, a database company and contemporary of WordPerfect in the 1980s.