Craig Venator:  

After Grant High School graduation in June 1964, went to Stanford University on a Navy ROTC scholarship to become a mechanical engineer. However, that didn't work out and I eventually graduated in June 1968 with a BA in Economics. Received my Ensign commission and went to Florida to begin Navy flight training. Got married in June 1969 in Texas and my daughter was born in June 1970 in California. I flew P3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft from Sunnyvale CA as a Navy officer during the Vietnam era. In September 1973, I had left the Navy and joined EDS and was transformed into a computer systems guy. But I was always interested in the "people" side of the IT business and was implementing big systems and processes for many state clients. But moving 12 times from 1968 to 1978 was too much for me and my family. I began business and government consulting, marketing and sales with Consultec in Atlanta in 1978, where we lived until 1996. Learning from many smart people along the way, I climbed up through progressive senior roles at Coopers & Lybrand, Ernst and Young, ICF International, and back again to EDS. The opportunity to be a EDS expat in South Africa led to our...Expand for more