November 23rd, 2009 - The Accelerator Centre is proud to announce the 2009 induction of Ian McPhee into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. The following excerpt is taken from Mr. McPhee's introduction at the Gala dinner:

Ian McPhee - Watcom, Sybase, Waterloo Accelerator Centre 

Ian McPhee is a driving force in Waterloo Region's tech industry. 

A University of Waterloo graduate of mathematics and computer science, he worked in UW's Computer Systems Group from 1973-1981 with the late Professor Wes Graham - Waterloo's father of computing. 

Ian made history in 1981 by co-founding Watcom with Fred Crigger and Jack Schueler - both former members of UW's Computer Systems Group. Watcom was the University's first software spinoff company, known for producing the Watcom C/C++, and Fortran compilers, and Watcom SQL - huge milestones in software development.    

Ian led Watcom until 1994, when Watcom was acquired by PowerSoft, which became part of Sybase in 1995. In 1997 Ian retired as vice-president and general manager of Sybase Waterloo but established the Watcom Scholarship in Computer Science at UW to keep the legacy of Watcom alive. 

The first J.W. Graham medal winner, Ian helped create the J.W. Graham Information Technology Trust. A $5 million endowment fund that supports innovative IT projects and education at the University of Waterloo. 

Ian has served as a Director of Dalsa Corporation and Janna Systems. Today he is vice-chair of the University of Waterloo's Board of Governors, and Chairs the board of the Accelerator Centre in the University of Waterloo Research + Technology Park.