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Free-Net Founder Wins Computing and Social Responsibility Prize

 **** THIS ARTICLE WAS FORWARDED ****
From: Susan Evoy <evoy@pcd.Stanford.EDU>
 **** THIS ARTICLE WAS FORWARDED ****
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 20:51:27 GMT
From: Susan Evoy <evoy@pcd.Stanford.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list ACTIV-L <ACTIV-L@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
Subject: Free-Net Founder Wins CPSR Award

October 5, 1995                                 Contact:  Jim Davis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           Phone:  (312) 252-8187
                                                or:  Audrie Krause
                                                Phone:  (415) 322-3778


Free-Net Founder Wins Computing and Social Responsibility Prize

Palo Alto, Calif., - Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
(CPSR), a national public interest organization based here, announced
today that Tom Grundner, president of the National Public
Telecomputing Network (NPTN), is the 1995 winner of the Norbert
Wiener Award for Social and Professional Responsibility.  The
prestigious award is given annually to a distinguished computer
commitment to the socially responsible use of computing technology.

"Tom Grundner was the board's unanimous choice for this year's award,"
said Stanford professor and CPSR board president Eric Roberts. "Tom's
outstanding work in helping to launch the 'Free-Net movement' has
helped to make access to electronic communication and the Internet a
reality for thousands of people."

Upon reading the description of the Wiener Award, Grundner
commented,  "Great--although, I have to say, I don't know what I am
doing in the company of some of those past award winners.  Quite a
list!"

Grundner was an early pioneer in the development of community-based
computerized information services. His "St. Silicon Project" at Case
Western Reserve University in 1984 provided the first data on the
effectiveness of using modem-equipped microcomputers to deliver
community health information. His Cleveland Free-Net Project in 1986
developed the nation's first free, open-access, community computer
system.

Based on the success of the Free-Net, in 1989 Grundner founded NPTN,
a non-profit organization to foster the growth of community computer
systems in the United States and overseas, and to link them together in a
common communications and information network. NPTN has over 60
affiliates online, and the funding to bring an additional 30 systems
online in 1995. Some 120 organizing committees are currently at work
in 42 states, and 10 overseas countries. NPTN has over 380,000 users.

Grundner will be honored at a special reception at "The Good, the Bad,
and the Internet: A Conference on Critical Issues in Information
Technology," being held in conjunction with CPSR's annual meeting in
Chicago, October 7 and 8, at the University of Illinois - Chicago's
Chicago Circle Center.

The Norbert Wiener Award was established in 1987. It is in memory of
Norbert Wiener who was the originator of the field of cybernetics and a
pioneer in looking at the social and political consequences of computing.
Author of the book, The Human Use of Human Beings, Wiener began
pointing out the dangers of nuclear war and the role of scientists in
developing more powerful weapons shortly after Hiroshima.


Past recipients of the Wiener Award have been: Dave Parnas, 1987, in
recognition of his courageous actions opposing the Strategic Defense
Initiative; Joe Weizenbaum, 1988, for his pioneering work emphasizing
the social context of computer science; Daniel McCracken, 1989, for his
work organizing computer scientists against the Anti Ballistic Missiles
deployment during the 1960s; Kristen Nygaard of Norway, 1990, for his
work in participatory design; Severo Ornstein and Laura Gould, 1991, in
recognition of their tireless energy guiding CPSR through its early years;
Barbara Simons, 1992, for her work on human rights, military funding,
and the U.C. Berkeley reentry program for women and minorities; the
Institute for Global Communications, 1993, for their work to use
network technology to empower previously disenfranchised individuals
and groups working for progressive change; and Antonia Stone, 1994, in
recognition of her efforts in establishing the Playing to Win Network, a
national network of computer centers providing access to computer
technology to communities typically neglected by the information
revolution.

Founded in 1981, CPSR is a national, non-profit, public interest
organization of computer scientists and other professionals concerned
with the impact of computer technology on society.   CPSR's members
provide  the public and policy makers with expert testimony and
assessments on the  power, promise, and limitations of computer
technology.

For more information about CPSR, the annual meeting, or the reception
in Tom Grundner's honor, call 415-322-3778 or send email to
cpsr@cpsr.org.