Tom Rudkin

Tom Rudkin is a retired software development engineer & manager whose career spanned Intel, Bell Northern Research, VisiCorp, Control Data, Forethought and Microsoft. While at Forethought, Rudkin was one of two developers who wrote the initial version of PowerPoint (running on a Macintosh), released in 1987. Forethought was acquired by Microsoft shortly thereafter, and Rudkin continued to develop PowerPoint at Microsoft for 8 years. He was the development manager for the first Windows version of PowerPoint and of Microsoft Draw.

Rudkin received a B.A. in Math (with Highest Distinction and Honors in Math) from the University of Kansas in 1973, and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1976. Since 1976, Rudkin has lived with his wife Jann in the Santa Clara Valley (aka Silicon Valley) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tom and Jann Rudkin keep active by volunteering with several organizations, most particularly with the American Youth Soccer Organization, as a soccer referee, referee instructor and referee assessor, and with their undergraduate alma mater, the University of Kansas. Rudkin was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008 by KU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He also tries to stay current in various technical areas within computer science, earth sciences and biological sciences, and he and Jann travel extensively inside and outside of the U.S. and spend lots of time with their two grandsons.