Karl F. Lopker

Karl F. Lopker
Education University of California, Santa Barbara (B.S. 1973)
Occupation Business executive
Years active 1981–
Employer QAD Inc
Title CEO
Religion Catholic[1]
Spouse(s) Pamela Lopker (1981– )

Karl F. Lopker is a business executive who is the current CEO of QAD Inc and is a co-founder of Deckers Outdoor Corporation.

Early life and education

Lopker attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1973.[2]

Deckers Outdoor Corporation

While a senior at UCSB, Lopker with fellow UCSB student Doug Otto created Deckers Outdoor Corporation in 1973.[3] Lopker oversaw manufacturing of the production while Otto was responsible for sales and distribution.[3] Despite a growing company, Lopker decided he wanted to work in software and was bought out by Otto in 1982.[3] He joined QAD Inc as CEO, a company his wife, Pamela Lopker, founded.[4]

QAD Inc

Despite working at Deckers at the time, Lopker urged then-girlfriend Pamela to start QAD Inc.[1] The Lopkers made the decision to write one of their software programs to be able to run on multiple computers, launching their program, MFG/PRO, and the company to international success.[1] MFG/PRO was also the first manufacturing software program to use UNIX.[1] Lopker also made the decision to recruit PeopleSoft employees after their Oracle acquisition and subsequent layoffs.[5]

UC Santa Barbara affiliation

In addition to attending college at UCSB, Lopker and his wife were both honored by the UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association's "Distinguished Alumni Award" in 1998.[6] The Lopkers made a major donation to the university which resulted in the first endowed chair in computer science at the College of Engineering.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Leff, Lisa (February 16, 1997). "Money, Fame And Family". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  2. "Bloomberg Businessweek Executive Profile Background". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Stewart, Ethan (December 8, 2011). "Diamonds on the Soles of Their Shoes". The Independent. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  4. Olsen, Patricia R. (January 23, 2010). "The Joy of a Family Shop". The New York Times. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  5. Wehner, Ross (January 27, 2005). "California software maker may hire some laid-off Peoplesoft employees". The Denver Post (Denver, Colorado).
  6. "Distinguished Alumni Award". UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  7. "Karl and Pamela Lopker Help Establish First Endowed Chair in Computer Science". UC Santa Barbara Engineering. Retrieved October 14, 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 24, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.