Michael Leonardich

Michael Leonardich has had a passion for technology since he was a little boy growing up in Central California. He loved taking things apart to find out how they worked and then putting them back together. His father encouraged Michael by buying an old car for him and telling him to have fun disassembling it. The skills he learned would set the stage for future projects such as building a ski boat with his dad which the whole family enjoyed using. After he finished with the car, Michael's focus shifted towards electronics. As a senior in high school, he built his own analog computer which ultimately found its way to a computer museum. He became fascinated with computers which ultimately led to him earning one of the first Computer Science degrees from the University of San Francisco. After getting some "real world" experience, Michael returned to USF and taught a class in systems analysis. This was followed by teaching a Basic programming language course at the City College of San Francisco. His 45-year Information Technology career spanned the rise of the mainframe computer through the personal computer revolution and the rise of the Internet. He has worked for startups, privately held companies, and multinational corporations. Michael has successfully completed IT projects that significantly increased company revenues and solved what were thought to be near-impossible business problems. He served on the technical advisory board of the College of Alameda and on the Networld Advisory Board where he became a frequent speaker at industry trade shows. In 1999, Michael was inducted into the International Who's Who of Information Technology. Michael and his wife, Suzanne, reside in the pacific Northwest. He is proud of the fact that despite enduring multiple company mergers, acquisitions and workforce reductions, he has never been unemployed over the span of his career. When he's not consulting, he spends his time volunteering in the community and enjoying the outdoors with his grandsons.