John William Poduska Sr

Bill Poduska is chairman of the board for Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS). Previously, he was a founder, vice president of research and director of Prime Computer; founder, CEO and chairman of Apollo Computer; founder, CEO and chairman of Stellar Computer; and chairman and CEO of Stardent Computer (formed by the merger of Stellar and Ardent).

Prior to that, Poduska was director of the Honeywell Information Center; chief of the Computer Systems Branch of NASA’s Electronic Research Center, which worked on various lunar and Mars missions. He has also been an assistant professor of electrical engineering and holds an Sc.D. from MIT and an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Lowell University.

Poduska’s awards include the prestigious McDowell Award of the IEEE, and the MIT Corporate Leadership and Distinguished Industrial Achievement Awards. He was also chosen as Arthur Young Venture Magazine’s Master Entrepreneur in High Technology, and was inducted into the Institute of Entrepreneurs, both in 1987.

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and of several boards, including the Boston Ballet Lyric Opera, Safeguard Scientifics, Cambridge Technology Partners and Union Pacific Resources. He also serves on several advisory boards.