Lifetime Achievement in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award
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2007 Recipient: L. John Doerr |
John Doerr has been at the forefront of venture capital for over 25 years. Since he joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 1980 he has helped create some of the world’s most innovative and successful companies, including Amazon.com, Compaq, Cypress, Google, Intuit, Lotus, Macromedia, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Symantec and many others. Moreover, in contributing to the success of Kleiner Perkins he has contributed to the creation on an industry that drives the national economy and enhances the well-being of the global community. More recently he has brought his unique talents to the challenge of education, co-founding the New Schools Venture Fund, and to public policy, collaborating in the creation of TechNet, a new voice of representation for the interests of the technology industry he has helped to create.
“John Doerr’s career has been at the epicenter of the information revolution. He has a unique talent for finding and working with great entrepreneurs to build enterprises that shape the world we live in. His track record as an investor is legendary, but his passion and vision extend far beyond creating successful ventures, to helping create a successful society. John’s civic and philanthropic passions for education and health care will result in new opportunities and enhanced lives for many generations to come." Jerry Engel, February 2007.
The award was inaugurated in 1998.
Honorees include:
2007 Recipient: L. John Doerr
2006 Recipient: F. Warren Hellman
2005 Recipient: C. Richard Kramlich
2004 Recipient: Sanford R. Robertson
2003 Recipient: Dr. Ralph Landau
2002 Recipient: Dr. Edward Penhoet
2001 Recipient: Mr. William Hambrecht
2000 Recipient: Dr. Gordon Moore
1999 Recipient: Mr. Arthur Rock
1998 Recipient: Dr. Alejandro Zaffaroni
Through the Lifetime Achievement Award, we seek to identify exemplars of entrepreneurship whose success can teach future generations by the example they set. Further, it allows us to bring outstanding practitioners to the Berkeley campus, creating opportunities for exchanges of ideas with faculty and students. We believe that by enhancing the interaction among academics, entrepreneurs, scientists and faculty, pragmatists and idealists, we help foster entrepreneurial success for individuals and the community as a whole.
The Lester Center has identified three distinct components shared by successful entrepreneurs. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the presence of these elements in the people who are thus honored. First, the award recognizes entrepreneurial excellence. This is reflected in the individual’s success in multiple business arenas and the significant impact of that success on a given industry.
Second, the award acknowledges the individual’s leadership in both business and community. As a leader, the award recipient models behavior that young entrepreneurs can emulate.
The third component of the award recognizes the efforts by which the entrepreneur returns value to his/her community. The award recipient’s contributions may be to the preservation of the environment, improvement of educational opportunity, or some other substantial contribution to the well-being of the community.
