The current chief scientist at Fusion-io will share his insights in Alumni Gym on Oct. 3, 2013, at 3:30 p.m. about the need to promote creativity and innovation in a technical environment. A Q&A in Whitley Auditorium takes place at 1:15 p.m.

A Silicon Valley icon who helped revolutionize the personal computer industry and brought computers to the hands of the mass market will serve as keynote speaker in October at Elon University’s Fall Convocation.

Apple Computer Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak’s address, “Fostering Creativity & Innovation in a Technical Environment,” takes place Oct. 3, 2013, at 3:30 p.m. in Alumni Gym. TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT FOR THE EVENT.

If you do not have a ticket and would like to attend the event, you have two options:



1. There will be a Standby Line in the Koury Athletic Center concourse. We will seat people waiting in the Standby Line to fill any empty seats in Alumni Gym shortly before Convocation begins at 3:30 p.m. The Standby Line will begin at 2:45 p.m. Seats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no guarantee of receiving a seat if you are in the Standby Line.



2. Convocation will be simulcast on the second floor of Lakeside Dining Hall in rooms 212 and 214. You may go straight there rather than to the Standby Line if you prefer. Once all seats in Alumni Gym have been filled, all those remaining in the Standby Line will be invited to watch Convocation in Lakeside.



These are the only ways that you will be able to see Convocation since it will not be streamed online and will not be rebroadcast in the future.

A question-and-answer opportunity for students takes place at 1:15 p.m. in Whitley Auditorium.

Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer Inc. in 1976 with Wozniak’s Apple I personal computer. The following year, he introduced his Apple II model, featuring a central processing unit, a keyboard, color graphics and a floppy disk drive. The Apple II was integral in launching the personal computer industry.

In 1981, Wozniak went back to UC Berkeley and finished his degree in electrical engineering/computer science. For his achievements at Apple, President Ronald Reagan awarded Wozniak the National Medal of Technology, the highest honor bestowed on America’s leading innovators.

In 2000, he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology, The Economy and Employment for single-handedly designing the first personal computer and for then redirecting his lifelong passion for mathematics and electronics toward lighting the fires of excitement for education in grade school students and their teachers.

Through the years, Wozniak has been involved in various business and philanthropic ventures, focusing primarily on computer capabilities in schools and stressing hands-on learning and encouraging creativity for students. Making significant investments of both his time and resources in education, he adopted the Los Gatos School District, providing students and teachers with hands-on teaching and donations of state-of-the-art technology equipment. He founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, Silicon Valley Ballet and Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.

Wozniak currently serves as chief scientist for Fusion-io, a Utah-based corporation that develops ioMemory solutions that accelerate virtualization, databases, cloud computing, big data and performance applications. He is a published author with the release of his New York Times best-selling autobiography, iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon, in September 2006 by Norton Publishing.

His television appearances include reality shows Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and The Big Bang Theory.