Past Advisory Committee Members

WILLIAM F. O’CONNELL, JR.

December 18, 1927 – April 10, 2008

PSI notes with sadness the passing of William F. O’Connell on April 10, 2008 at his home in LaQuinta, CA. Bill had been instrumental in the early development of PSI, having worked closely with PSI founder Ron Hilton in bringing the company to the point where it was able to successfully secure its initial round of venture capital financing. Thereafter Bill served as a strategic advisor to Michael Maulick, PSI’s President and CEO in helping PSI formulate its initial sales and marketing strategy. Most recently Bill had served as a member of PSI’s Advisory Committee.

Bill graduated from MIT in 1951 with a degree in Electrical Engineering . He then enjoyed a long and successful career in the computer industry spanning more than 40 years. Bill spent more than 20 years with IBM, starting in Boston in 1954 as Account Executive with responsibility for large regional accounts. He soon was responsible for managing large systems planning for the System 360 at the time Gene Amdahl was IBM's principal architect for that system. In 1971, he became Director of Product Planning for IBM's Future Systems.

Bill joined Amdahl Corporation in 1977 as Senior Vice President, Marketing, where he assumed leadership for the company's worldwide marketing and sales organizations. Under his leadership, Amdahl expanded operations in Europe, Asia Pacific, and Canada, growing to more than $1billion in sales. Hel also served as Amdahl's Senior VP for Strategy, the executive position responsible for software development.

Bill will be greatly missed by all who knew and worked with him. He is survived by his wife Maureen, four children and eleven grandchildren.