Avie Tevanian

Avadis "Avie" Tevanian is a former Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Apple Computer from 1997 to 2003, and a former Chief Software Technology Officer from 2003 to 2006. He is a member of the board of embedded software tools company Green Hills Software. Tevanian was responsible for setting company-wide software technology direction at Apple. At Apple, he was the primary figure in the development of Mac OS X.^[1] He was a long-standing friend of Steve Jobs.^[2]

Tevanian was the author of Mac Missiles, a popular clone of 1980s arcade classic Missile Command, which he developed for the Macintosh platform.^[3] He is Armenian.^[4]

Originally from Westbrook, Maine,^[5] Avie Tevanian received his B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Rochester, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University. Tevanian was an important figure in the development of the Mach kernel while at Carnegie Mellon; he later worked for NeXT Computer and later at Apple, both times brought over by Steve Jobs. In United States v. Microsoft, he was a witness for the United States Department of Justice, testifying against Microsoft.^[6]

Tevanian left Apple on March 31, 2006.^[7] In May 2006, it was announced that Tevanian had joined the board of Tellme Networks.^[8][9]

On January 12, 2010, private equity firm Elevation Partners announced that Tevanian joined the firm as Managing Director.^[10] Former Apple CFO Fred Anderson is a Managing Director and co-founder of Elevation Partners. He is quoted as saying:

"Avie and I worked closely together at Apple for many years and I have always admired his engineering talent and leadership, his strategic vision for how software can transform businesses and his ability to execute on that vision. We are proud that he has decided to join Elevation and believe he will be a huge asset as we explore new investment opportunities"

References

1. "Avie Tevanian Named Chief Software Technology Officer of Apple". University of Rochester. Retrieved 2012-11-05.
2. "Was Steve Jobs' genius also a fatal flaw?". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
3. "Mac Missiles! (Avadis Tevanian 1984)". Retrieved 2014-01-07.
4. Mezoian, Anthony (2006). "A Brief History of Portland's Armenian Settlement". Armenian Cultural Association of Maine History. Armenians of Maine. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
5. "Polishing Apple". Rochester Review V60 N2. University of Rochester. 1997. Archived from the original on 2 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
6. Heilemann, John (November 2000). "The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But The Truth". Wired. Condé Nast Publications. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
7. Saracevic, Alan (2006-03-27). "Adios Avie". The Tech Chronicles. SFGate. Retrieved 2006-11-19.
8. Fried, Ina (2006-05-07). "Former Apple exec joins Tellme board". CNet. Retrieved 2006-11-19.
9. "Leadership Team". Tellme Networks, Inc. Archived from the original on 14 November 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-19.
10. Partners, Elevation (2010-01-12). "Former Apple Software Chief Avie Tevanian Joins Elevation Partners as Managing Director". Elevation Partners. PR Wire. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-12.