Bruce Bastian
| Bruce Bastian | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
March 23, 1948 Twin Falls, Idaho. U.S. |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Alma mater | BYU |
| Known for | Co-founder WordPerfect |
Bruce Wayne Bastian (born March 23, 1948 in Twin Falls, Idaho) is an American computer programmer, businessman, philanthropist and social activist. He co-founded the WordPerfect Software Company with Alan Ashton in 1978 (originally known as Satellite Software International (SSI) and then changed to WordPerfect Corporation in 1982).
While enrolled as a student at Brigham Young University, where he originally majored in music and was for a time the director of the BYU Cougar Marching Band, he developed a software program to help choreograph marching band performances, with the help of an instructor, Alan Ashton. When he lost his position with the marching band it was suggested that he get his Master's Degree in computer science rather than in music.
When he graduated in the spring of 1978, Bastian worked for a short time for Ashton and another partner, developing word processing software. When that company stopped because of inadequate funding, Bastian took a job with the Eyring Research Institute (ERI). At ERI, Bastian briefly worked on a language translation program (unrelated to WordPerfect). Within a few months of his employment at ERI, ERI signed a contract with Orem City to produce a word processor for the city's new DEC PDP-11/34 mini computer. Since Bastian was the only employee at ERI who had any development experience with word processing, ERI contracted with Bastian and Ashton to develop what would become WordPerfect. Originally the word processor was written in DEC Assembler Language. It was later ported to the IBM PC.
At 1979, as the Vice President of then SSI (Satellite Software International) with a staff of three including him, Bruce Bastian visited Finland to prove the validity of those letters. After first refusing to implement the complex Finnish hyphenation algorithm, a minor but decisive feature, he added that anyway to get a better sleep. Later on the software was ported to personal computers like IBM PC and designed so well that it was easy to adapt it to any other languages since then, as it was.
At one time Bastian's net worth was estimated at $1.4 billion, earning him a place on the Forbes list of the 500 wealthiest people in America.
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