2009 Distinguished Nebraskan Award Recipient Jeff Raikes On February 2, 2010 the Nebraska Society of Washington, DC honored Jeff Raikes as the 2009 Distinguished Nebraskan Award recipient. Jeff Raikes is the chief executive officer of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and co-founder, along with his wife, of the Raikes Foundation. An Ashland, Nebraska native, Raikes holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering-economic systems from Stanford University. He and his wife, Tricia, have three children. At the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Raikes leads the foundation’s efforts to promote equity for all people around the world. Meanwhile, the Raikes Foundation provides opportunities and support during adolescence to help young people become healthy, contributing adults. Raikes was previously a member of Microsoft’s senior leadership team, which sets overall strategy and direction for the company. Raikes was president of the Microsoft Business Division and oversaw the Information Worker, Server & Tools Business and Microsoft Business Solutions groups. He previously served as group vice president of the Worldwide Sales and Support Group, where he was responsible for providing strategic leadership for Microsoft's sales, marketing, and service initiatives. Before that, he served as senior vice president of Microsoft North America. Raikes joined Microsoft in 1981 as a product manager and was instrumental in driving Microsoft’s applications marketing strategy. Promoted to director of applications marketing in 1984, Raikes was the chief strategist behind the company’s success in graphical applications for the Apple Macintosh and the Microsoft Windows operating system and the creation of the Microsoft Office suite of productivity applications. Before joining Microsoft, he was a software development manager at Apple Computer Inc. In June 2008, the Board of Regents at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln renamed the J.D. Edwards Honors Program in Computer Science and Management to the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management. Raikes, a longtime supporter of the highly selective and renowned school, was a part of the initial conceptualization and has served on the board since its inception in 2001. Back to list

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