Edward Botwinick
{{short description|American entrepreneur}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Edward Botwinick
| birth_date =
| nationality = American
| education = Columbia University (BA, BS)
| alma_mater =
| occupation = IT Entrepreneur, investor
| employer = Unisys
| known_for = Founding Timeplex
| relatives = James Wolfensohn (brother-in-law)
| honours =
}}
Edward Botwinick is an American businessman, investor, and IT industry entrepreneur.{{Cite book |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102738718 |title=Botwinick, Edward interview |date=1988-03-10 |publisher=Computer History Museum |others=Edward Botwinick , James L. Pelkey |location=Woodcliff Lake, NJ}}
Biography
Botwinick graduated from Columbia College with a BA in 1956 and the Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science with a BS in 1958.{{Cite book |last1=Columbia College (Columbia University). Office of Alumni Affairs and Development |url=http://archive.org/details/ldpd_12981092_030 |title=Columbia College today |last2=Columbia College (Columbia University) |date=1988 |publisher=New York, N.Y. : Columbia College, Office of Alumni Affairs and Development |others=Columbia University Libraries}}
Upon graduating from Columbia, Botwinick worked for US Semiconductor Corporation before co-founding Silicon Transistor Corporation. After the company went public, it was acquired in 1963. From 1963 to 1967, Botwinick was president and a shareholder Quantum Inc. He then joined Goldman Sachs as Vice President of high-tech investment research and venture capital.{{Cite book |last1=Pelkey |first1=James L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxBsEAAAQBAJ&q=Botwinick&pg=PT220 |title=Circuits, Packets, and Protocols: Entrepreneurs and Computer Communications, 1968-1988 |last2=Russell |first2=Andrew L. |last3=Robbins |first3=Loring G. |date=2022-04-19 |publisher=Morgan & Claypool |isbn=978-1-4503-9729-2 |language=en}}
At Goldman, Botwinick, he learned of the opportunity to invest in American Data Systems, the company behind Time-division multipliers. He then invested, and co-founded Timeplex and became chairman and CEO of the company in 1977.{{Cite web |title=Timeplex {{!}} History of Computer Communications |url=https://historyofcomputercommunications.info/section/13.27/timeplex/ |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=historyofcomputercommunications.info}}{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/computerworld158unse |title=Computerworld |date=1981-02-23 |others=International Data Group}} In the next few years, he led the company to launch a number of successful statistical multiplexer products, including the T-1 multiplexers, and made it one of the first companies to use microprocessors in its systems.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dx4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22edward+botwinick%22+%22timeplex%22&pg=PA13 |title=Network World |date=1986-11-10 |publisher=IDG Network World Inc |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Columbia Engineering Magazine - Spring 2012 by Columbia Engineering School - Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/columbiaengineeringschool/docs/spring2012 |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=issuu.com |date=7 March 2012 |language=en}}
In 1987, Unisys acquired Timeplex for $307 million and Botwinick became Senior Vice President of Unisys and President of Unisys Networks.{{Cite web |date=1988-02-15 |title=TIMEPLEX-CENTRED UNISYS NETWORKS WILL LEAD BIDS FOR CORPORATE NETWORK SALES |url=https://techmonitor.ai/technology/timeplex_centred_unisys_networks_will_lead_bids_for_corporate_network_sales |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=Tech Monitor |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last=Enterprise |first=I. D. G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSBrPSYgjI4C&dq=%22Edward+Botwinick%22+semiconductor&pg=PP80 |title=Computerworld |date=1988-02-08 |publisher=IDG Enterprise |language=en}} He retired from Unisys in 1989.{{Cite news |date=1989-02-16 |title=EXECUTIVE CHANGES |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/16/business/executive-changes-790489.html |access-date=2022-06-29 |issn=0362-4331}}
Botwinick sat on the board of Duke Cancer Institute and Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and was a trustee of Columbia University. He currently serves as a president of the Botwinick-Wolfensohn Foundation.{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Alec Glassford, Andrea Suozzo, Brandon |date=2013-05-09 |title=Botwinick Wolfensohn Foundation Inc - Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/136111833 |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The Trustees Emeriti {{!}} Office of the Secretary |url=https://secretary.columbia.edu/content/trustees-emeriti |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=secretary.columbia.edu}}
Personal life and family
Botwinick's father was Benjamin Botwinick, businessman and philanthropist who founded Benjamin Botwinick & Co., a New York City accounting firm.{{Cite web |last=School |first=Columbia Business |date=2017-06-12 |title=About Benjamin Botwinick '26 |url=https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/leadership/speakerseries/botwinick/about |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=The Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics |language=en}} His sister, Elaine Botwinick, was married to World Bank president James Wolfensohn.{{Cite web |title=Elaine Wolfensohn {{!}} Albright Institute |url=https://www.wellesley.edu/albright/about/faculty/elaine-wolfensohn |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=www.wellesley.edu}}{{Cite news |last=Hershey |first=Robert D. Jr. |date=2020-11-26 |title=James D. Wolfensohn, Who Led the World Bank for 10 Years, Dies at 86 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/business/economy/james-d-wolfensohn-dead.html |access-date=2022-06-29 |issn=0362-4331}}
References
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Category:Columbia College (New York) alumni
Category:Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni
Category:American investment bankers
Category:American technology company founders
Category:American technology executives
Category:American technology businesspeople
Category:American technology chief executives