Chicago, IL - Technology leaders across the nation today endorsed Barack Obama the day after he unveiled his innovation agenda at Google headquarters. These entrepreneurs, academics, and innovators are drivers in the effort to recapture American competitiveness.
"Senator Obama not only understands good tech policy, but he also understands the best policy so that tech can do some good," said Lawrence Lessig, founder of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society. "By committing to opening government data, an Obama administration would provide all of us the tools we need to make government work for us, and not for the special interests that flourish in the shadows of a nontransparent government."
"I want my kids to grow up in an Obama America - an America in which, as Barack Obama has said, we stop setting settling for what the cynics say we have to accept and reach for what we know is possible," said Julius Genachowski, Co-founder and Managing Director of Rock Creek Ventures. "An America with a President who will summon the nation to a common purpose, who will lead not by polls, but by principle; not by calculation, but by conviction; a President who will combat the common threats of the 21st century - nuclear weapons and terrorism; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. This is what Barack Obama has promised - they are his words. And as someone fortunate enough to know him for two decades, watching him gather extensive real-word experience and a record of great judgment, I am completely confident he will deliver on his promise."
A full list of the technology leaders endorsing Barack Obama is below:
Stuart Benjamin, Professor of Law, Duke University
Robert Blackwell, Founder and CEO, Electronic Knowledge Interchange Consulting
Joseph Farrell, Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley; Chief Economist, Federal Communications Commission (1996-97); Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economics (chief economist), Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice (2000-02)
Lloyd Frink, President and Co-Founder, Zillow
Julius Genachowski, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Rock Creek Ventures; former Chief of Business Operations & General Counsel, IAC/InterActiveCorp; former Chief Counsel to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt
Don Gips, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, Level 3 Communications; former Chief Domestic Policy Advisor to Vice President Gore
Rob Glaser, Founder and CEO, Real Networks
Mark Gorenberg, Managing Director, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
Nick Hanauer, Partner, Second Avenue Partners; Founder, aQuantive
Adam Hanft, Founder and CEO, Hanft Unlimited
Reed Hundt, Former Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (1993-97)
Mitch Kapor, President, Kapor Enterprises; Founder, Lotus Development Corp.
Jed Katz, Managing Director, DFJ Gotham Ventures
Michael Katz, Professor, NYU and UC Berkeley; former Chief Economist, FCC; former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economics (chief economist), Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice
William Kennard, Former Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (1997-2001)
Deborah Lathen, President, Lathen Consulting; former Chief, Cable Bureau, FCC
Steve Lerner, Managing Partner, Blue Hill Group
Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law, Stanford University
Blair Levin, Managing Director, Stifel Nicholas; former Chief of Staff, FCC
Andrew McLaughlin, Director, Global Public Policy and Government Affairs, Google
Ted Meisel, Elevation Partners
Jon Miller, Former Chairman and CEO, American Online, Inc.
Glenn Neland, Retired Senior Vice President, Dell
Robert Nelsen, Managing Director and Co-Founder, ARCH Venture Partners
Craig Newmark, Founder, Craigslist
Beth Noveck, Professor of Law, New York Law School
Chamath Palihapitiya, Executive Vice President, Product and Operations, Facebook
Deven Parekh, Partner, Insight Venture Partners
Sunil Paul, Founding Partner, Spring Ventures; Co-Founder, Brightmail
John Place, Retired General Counsel, Yahoo!, Inc.
Jeff Pulver, Founder, pulver.com
Arti Rai, Professor of Law, Duke University
John Roos, CEO, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Alec Ross, Senior Vice President, One Economy
Kim Scott, AdSense Director of Online Sales and Operations, Google
Carl Shapiro, Professor of Business Strategy, UC Berkeley; Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economics (chief economist), Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice (1995-96)
Howard Shelanski, Professor of Law, UC Berkeley; former Chief Economist, FCC
Steven Spinner, Executive, Danoo
Phil Weiser, Professor of Law and Telecommunications, University of Colorado
Kevin Werbach, Asst. Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Tom Wheeler, Managing Director, Core Capital Partners
Tim Wu, Professor of Law, Columbia University
Ed Zander, CEO, Motorola
Barack Obama, Obama Campaign Press Release - Tech Leaders Announce Support for Barack Obama Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/292363