Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will be a keynote speaker at the 2013 commencement ceremony at UC Berkeley. Wozniak is a technology graduate of Berkeley, receiving a degree in electrical engineering and computer science in 1986.
Wozniak and his high school classmate, the late Steve Jobs, founded Apple in 1976 in a Silicon Valley garage. The two were high school pals who would often experiment with technology. They were both legendary techie pranksters and built "blue boxes" that would trick phones into allowing users to make free phone calls by emitting tones at a certain frequency. He was known as "Berkeley Blue" among phone phreak hobbyists.
Wozniak is well known for his contributions to the computer revolution and designed Apple's first line of computers Apple I and Apple II, helping to bring Macintosh into fruition. The Apple II was the first personal computer to display color graphics and ran on the programming language Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC).
After parting ways with Apple for personal reasons in the 1980s, Wozniak went on to pursue other endeavors and is a successful philanthropist. He currently holds the title of chief scientist of the data storage company Fusion-io. His achievements in computer science technology awarded him the prestigious National Medal of Technology in 1985 and an induction into the Inventor's Hall of Fame in 2000.
As reported by the Daily Californian, Wozniak is fondly known as "Woz" among UC Berkeley staff and alumni and is scheduled to speak at the school's graduation on May 18. The Class of 2013 commencement will take place at California Memorial Stadium, "rain or shine," said the invitation from Chancellor Robert Birgeneau.
