Corel President and CEO Wins Lifetime Achievement Award
Business Wire - April 20, 2000 09:38
OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2000--Corel Corporation (NASDAQ: CORL) (TSE: COR.) is pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Cowpland, its president and CEO, was honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for Innovation by the National Research Council of Canada.
The award, announced at a ceremony in Ottawa Wednesday night, recognizes Dr. Cowpland for his invaluable contributions to the high-tech industry. He is being honored for making Corel a leading, innovative software company and furthering Ottawa's reputation around the world as a center for high-tech development.
Dr. Cowpland was one of four recipients of the National Research Council's first-ever Ottawa-Carleton Regional Innovation Awards. Antoine Paquin, president and CEO of Philsar Semiconductor Inc., won the Ottawa Citizen Year 2000 Innovator of the Year Award, while Iridian Spectral Technologies and Iogen Corporation shared the MITEL Year 2000 Innovation of the Year Award.
"This award means a lot to me," said Dr. Cowpland. "Together, regional high-tech companies like Corel put Ottawa on the map as a center of high-tech advancements. I'm proud to be considered among that group and deeply honored to receive such a prestigious award."
Dr. Cowpland is the president and CEO of one of the leading software companies in the world. Corel's products are used by an estimated 50 million people internationally. He was born in Bexhill, Sussex, England on April 23, 1943. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering at Imperial College, Britain's leading engineering university. After moving to Ottawa in 1964, he received a Master's degree and a Doctorate in electrical engineering from Carleton University. He also holds several honorary degrees.
Dr. Cowpland began his career in 1964 at Bell Northern Research, working on electronic telephone systems, before moving to MicroSystems International where he was manager of silicon chip design. In 1973, he co-founded MITEL and was the company's CEO for 10 years. Attracted to the dynamic PC software market and eager for a new challenge, he founded Corel in 1985. The company has thrived under his leadership.
"Dr. Michael Cowpland has been a leading innovator in the Ottawa region for more than 30 years," said Dr. Arthur Carty, president of the National Research Council. "He played an instrumental role in the creation of MITEL Corporation and was the founder of Corel Corporation, now one of the leading software companies in the world. Dr. Cowpland is a true entrepreneur - bold and brave, always willing to move in new directions, lay down new challenges and to take risks which others might eschew. Typical of his innovative spirit are the new directions Corel is taking in embracing Linux and bringing new products based on this platform to the marketplace."
"The NRC Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes innovation that spans several years," added Dr. Carty. "The NRC is very proud that the Regional Innovation Forum has chosen Dr. Michael Cowpland for the first NRC Lifetime Achievement Award for Innovation."
Each of the winners received Thoughts in Action, the innovation award that combines two figures: one representing The Thinker, the other representing a person in action to signify innovation. The award was produced by sculptor Dr. David Makow.
Corel Corporation
Corel Corporation is an internationally recognized developer of award-winning business productivity, graphics and operating system solutions on the Windows(r), Linux(r), UNIX(r), Macintosh(r) and Java(tm) platforms. Corel also develops market-leading, Web-based solutions including applications, contents, e-commerce and online services. For access to these services and more information go to www.corel.com or www.corelcity.com. Corel is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. Corel's common stock trades on the NASDAQ Stock Market(sm) under the symbol CORL and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol COR. |
