San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world, is honored to receive a $1.2 million bequest from the estate of Leonard Zubkoff, an EFF supporter and technology pioneer. EFF will use $1 million of this money to establish the EFF Endowment Fund for Digital Civil Liberties.
"This generous legacy enables us to establish a permanent source of support for EFF," explained EFF Development Director Terri Forman. "It also leverages a $1 million pledge challenge from one of our co-founders and board members. We are now two-thirds of the way towards our Phase I goal of $3 million."
"This gift is important to us for several reasons," said EFF Executive Director Shari Steele. "Not only does it help us establish our endowment fund, Leonard's legacy makes it possible for us to bring aboard a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to create and implement a technology strategy for EFF. With our combined expertise in both the law and technology, EFF is perfectly situated to help create and foster new technologies designed to enhance freedom."
Leonard Zubkoff was an internationally known software developer and entrepreneur, respected for his expertise in computer architecture and operating systems. He loved to fly and was learning to pilot a helicopter when he died in a crash in Misty Fjords National Monument Wilderness in Alaska on August 29, 2002.
Mr. Zubkoff was born in Seattle and earned a master's degree in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University after graduating summa cum laude in mathematics and physics at the University of Rochester. He moved to the Bay Area in 1985 to become the principal scientist for a Menlo Park company developing artificial intelligence software. In 1994, Mr. Zubkoff joined Oracle Corp., the database software giant located in Redwood Shores, as a principal member of its technical staff. He joined VA Linux Systems Inc., a Fremont company now known as VA Software Corp., as chief technical officer in 1998. Zubkoff also founded Dandelion Digital, a small, state-of-the-art recording studio that produced "filk" -- originally a typo of "folk" -- recordings on compact discs.
For information about making a gift to EFF's endowment fund or about establishing a bequest to benefit EFF, please contact Terri Forman at +1 415 436-9333 x113, or tforman@eff.org
To make an initial inquiry about the CTO position and to receive a job description when it becomes available, please send a note to ctojob@eff.org
Terri Forman
Director of Development
Electronic Frontier Foundation
tforman@eff.org
Shari Steele
Executive Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
ssteele@eff.org
EFF is a group of passionate people -- lawyers, technologists, visionaries, and volunteers -- battling to protect your civil liberties online. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression and privacy on the Internet. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/
