Cisco Systems Inc. is the American tech company and worlds top brand in the field of networking equipment designing but it is not very much known to the common household. Cisco was founded by two aspiring entrepreneurs Sandy Lerner and Leonard Bosack. Cisco designs and markets networking hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and other high-technology services and products are based in San Jose, California, Silicon Valley of the United States of America.
The products manufactured by cisco are mostly used by other tech manufacturers hence it is not known to most of the common households. In terms of business, cisco is one of the biggest business corporate house in the USA and worldwide.
Cisco mainly specializes in specific emerging tech markets, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), domain security and energy management and it have many subsidiaries like such as Open DNS, Webex, Jabber and Jasper.
This article brings you some details about the lives of the duo that established cisco as a top tech manufacturer.
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THE EARLY LIVES OF THE SANDY LERNER AND LEONARD BOSACK
We will start with Sandy, born in 1955 in California, United States of America. She had her early education and schooling from California itself. Sandy in 1975 obtained her graduate degree in international relations from California State University, Chico. She further went to Claremont Graduate School, for a post-graduation course in econometrics in which she completed in 1977. Sandy also hold a master’s degree in statistics and computer science in 1981 from Stanford University.
Now coming to Leo, Leonard X. Bosack born in 1952 in Pennsylvania state of United States of America. Leonard did his early schooling from La Salle College High School in Pennsylvania. For graduation, Bosack went to the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science and obtained a degree in 1973. After graduation, he took up a job of hardware engineer in Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). In 1981 he got admission in Stanford university in a computer science course.
Leonard and Sandy met at Stanford and they later got married to each other. The duo had played a major role in connecting the computer system at Stanford during their studies there. Bosack used computer networking technology to link all of the school’s computer systems to talk to one another, creating a box that functioned as a multiprotocol router called the “Blue Box”.
FOUNDING OF THE CISCO AND THEIR JOURNEY IN COMPANY
The success of thE blue box project at Stanford inspired the duo to set up a company which they named as Cisco Systems in 1984, the name of the company was inspired by the city of San Francisco. Cisco started its business by selling its first product which was a network interface card to Digital Equipment Corporation’s computers in 1985. In the same tables turned for cisco as its router that served multiple network protocols became a big success and gained a wide market for the company. With its routers cisco one of the first companies that designed and marketed commercially successful routers supporting multiple network protocols.
Cisco was the pioneer of the concept of a local area network (LAN) being used to connect geographically disparate computers over a multiprotocol router system. The credit of developing devices which works on local area network (LAN) and are used commercially in big businesses hoes to Lerner and Bosack. Under the leadership of Lerner and Bosack, the company produced revolutionary technology such as the first multiport router-specific line cards and sophisticated routing protocols, giving them domination over the market-place. Bosack’s technological advancements include his creation of new in-line fibre optic amplification which has a data transmission speed of 6.071 milliseconds.
The duo held high positions in Cisco Systems till 1990 after which they left the company due to issue with some investors.
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SANDY LERNER AND LEONARD BOSACK: ASPECTS OF LIFE BEYOND CISCO
Charity had a big role in the lives of the founders of cisco. Both Lerner and Bosack when left cisco, sold their shares worth $ 170 million of which they pledged 70 % towards charity. Their philanthropy organisation works in various fields but specialises in animal welfare and scientific advancements. The Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington was the result of charity funds from their organisation. Their organisation helped to establish Centre for the Study of Early Women’s Writing, 1600–1830.
Other than philanthropy Lerner also had a wide interest in writing. In 2011 she published a sequel of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice with the title Second Impressions using the pen name of Ava Farmer.
Cations is a book of art imitating cats which were published by Lerner in August 2017. She also has a website named The Purrington Post which posts news related to cats and there well being.
SANDY LERNER AND LEONARD BOSACK: AWARDS AND HONOURS
Sandy Lerner and Leonard Bosack were honoured by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society in 2009 with its “Computer Entrepreneur Award “for founding Cisco Systems and pioneering and advancing the commercialization of routing technology and the profound changes this technology enabled in the computer industry.”
Southampton University in 2005 awarded Lerner with an honorary degree. She was also honoured with a Doctor of Sciences degree in 2012 from California State University, Chico. For her work in the technology sector, Women’s Entrepreneurship Day awarded Lerner with Pioneer Award in 2014. Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson in 2015 presented Lerner with honorary OBE for her contributions to UK culture.
