Philip Greenspun | |
|---|---|
 Philip and Alex, 1997, byElsa Dorfman | |
| Born | (1963-09-28)September 28, 1963 (age 62) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS,PhD) |
| Known for | Developing database-backed Internet applications and online learning communities |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Thesis | Architecture and Implementation of Online Communities (1991) |
| Doctoral advisor | Patrick Winston |
Philip Greenspun (born September 28, 1963) is an Americancomputer scientist,educator, earlyInternetentrepreneur, and pilot who was involved in developingonline communities such as photo.net.
Greenspun was born on September 28, 1963, grew up inBethesda, Maryland, and received aB.S. inMathematics fromMIT in 1982. After working forHP Labs inPalo Alto andSymbolics, he became a founder ofICAD, Inc. Greenspun returned to MIT to studyelectrical engineering andcomputer science, receiving aPh.D.
In 1993, Greenspun co-founded photo.net, anonline community for people helping each other to improve their photographic skills. He seeded the community with "Travels with Samantha", a photo-illustrated account of a trip fromBoston toAlaska and back; Samantha was how Greenspun referred to his Macintosh PowerBook 170 that he used to photo document his journey.[1] Photo.net was co-founded with Rajeev Surati and Waikit Lau. Having grown to 600,000 registered users, it was acquired by NameMedia in 2007 for $6 million, according to documents filed in connection with a planned public offering of NameMedia shares.[2]
In 1995, Greenspun was hired to lead development ofHearst Corporation's Internet services, which included earlye-commerce sites. He was also an early developer of database-backed web sites,[3] which became the dominant approach to engineering sites with user contributions. Greenspun'sOracle-based community site LUSENET was an important early host of free forums.[1]
Working with Isaac Kohane of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Greenspun co-developed an early web-based electronic medical record systems in 1996.[4] Greenspun and Kohane continued to work together on medical informatics at Harvard Medical School.[5]
Greenspun founded the open-source software companyArsDigita in 1996.[6] As CEO, he grew it to about $20 million in revenue before accepting anyventure capital investments.[7]
Greenspun and his co-founders at ArsDigita also established anon-profit foundation that ran theArsDigita Prize, an award for young web developers, and theArsDigita University, a tuition-free one-year program teaching core computer science curriculum. Winners of the Prize included a 12-year-oldAaron Swartz.[8]
Greenspun has written several textbooks on developing Internet applications, including:
About 20 years later, Greenspun became the editor ofMedical School 2020, which provides a first-person account by a medical student.[11]
Greenspun was employed as a commercial pilot forDelta Air Lines subsidiaryComair from 2008 until it ceased operation in 2012.[12] He holds anAirline Transport Pilot License and Flight Instructor certificates for both airplanes[13] and helicopters,[14] as well as type ratings for two turbojet-powered airplanes.[15]
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology publishes an aviation ground school program for private pilots, co-taught by Greenspun on its OpenCourseware site.[16]
Greenspun has taught electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. One of Greenspun's most famous students isRandal Pinkett, who built an online community for low-income housing residents in Greenspun's 6.171 Software Engineering for Internet Applications course. Pinkett went on to winNBC TV show,The Apprentice.
In 2007, Greenspun donated $20,000 to theWikimedia Foundation to fund a project to pay illustrators who contributed work for Wikipedia.[17][18]
In December 2013, Greenspun donated to Kids on Computers (KOC),[19] a 501(c)(3) non-profit which sets up computer labs countries where children do not have access to technology. In recognition of Greenspun's donation, a KOC lab was named the Gittes Family Lab in honor of his grandfather.[20] Avni Khatri, President of Kids on Computers in 2012 credits her time at ArsDigita as where she learned the value of FOSS and how it can help bridge and connect virtual and real-world communities.[21]
Greenspun is a volunteer forAngel Flight, transporting kidneys from donors to recipients.[22]
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