Wendell Brown

Wendell Brown is an American

Brown was born in the Appalachia region of the United States, and grew up in the northernmost Appalachian town of Oneonta where he was first introduced to computers by his father, who worked as a professor at SUNY Oneonta. Brown attended Oneonta High School, where he began computer programming, selling personal computer systems, and published his first computer article in Byte (magazine).^[1][2][3]

Brown's mother and father were both native West Virginians. His father, Foster Brown, was a statistics and psychology professor from Wheeling, West Virginia. His mother, Barbara, was an elementary school teacher from Tunnelton, West Virginia. Brown has stated of his upbringing in the Appalachian region, "I'm proud of my West Virginia heritage, where my family tree has deep roots dating back to the founding of our nation, and I treasure many memories from times spent in the lush countryside of my parents' hometowns."^[4][2]

Brown graduated from

While studying at Cornell University, Brown was hired by video game publisher Imagic, where he created several bestselling titles^[9] including a port of the 1983 arcade game Star Wars for ColecoVision,^[10] as well as Beauty & the Beast,^[11][12] Nova Blast,^[11] and an unreleased port of Moonsweeper^[13][14] for Mattel's Intellivision.

Upon graduating from university, Brown left Imagic and his career as an independent computer scientist began with his founding of Hippopotamus Software, one of earliest software developers for the

ADAP was also used by recording artists Peter Gabriel, Fleetwood Mac, The Pointer Sisters, Mötley Crüe, David Bowie, and Nirvana among others for sound effects and digital music editing. The Walt Disney Company and Toshiba used ADAP to create sound effects for rides and live action productions at Disney amusement parks in the US and Japan.^[19] MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) company Hybrid Arts acquired Nilford Labs in 1988.^[20]

From 1988 through the mid-1990s, Brown worked with National Semiconductor as a telecommunications cryptography expert where he built hardware implementations of DS3 algorithms.^[21]

After leaving National Semiconductor, Brown reunited with one of his Imagic colleagues,

Internet technology

Brown is regarded as a pioneer of Internet messaging, VoIP technologies, as well as Internet-based gig work and remote work.^{[24][25][26][27]}

As co-founder and Chief Ideas Officer of

Brown went on to co-found another communications company, Teleo, in 2005,^[37] an early competitor of Skype, where he created VoIP applications enabling users to send and receive phone calls over the Internet.^[38] Teleo was acquired by Microsoft and became part of Microsoft's MSN group in 2006. ^[39]

In 2015, Brown started the San Francisco and New York City-based cybersecurity company Averon, which develops frictionless identity solutions based on mobile technologies.^[40] Averon presented a verified location concept on the main stage of the global TED Conference in 2016, and introduced its Direct Autonomous Authentication (DAA) mobile security technology in 2018.^[41][42] Multinational telecommunications provider Telefónica is a technology partner of Averon.^[43]

As a Silicon Valley

Brown has created dozens of U.S. and internationally patented inventions in the fields of cybersecurity, telecommunications, virtual workforce, electric vehicles, LED lighting, 3D cameras, renewable fuels, online music distribution, and mobile phone apps including WebDiet, a method of using mobile phones to count food consumption to improve health. The WebDiet app was recognized as the first app to count calories and automate meal coaching.[49]^[50]

Philanthropy

Brown's philanthropic involvements include the endowment of a named scholarship at

He is a longtime contributing member of the Human Rights Campaign for the advancement of LGBT civil rights, and of global Jewish service organizations.^[2]

Private life

In 2013, Brown was honored by his hometown with a permanent plaque on Oneonta High School's Wall of Distinction for his accomplishments in business and technology.^[3]

Brown participates as a speaker, technology judge and advisor in communities including the Israel Conference,

Brown is a licensed private pilot and is active in the development of new airplane, rocket, and electric vehicle designs. He is married to American author Taro Gold.^[63]

References