Ward Cunningham

“Come on in and I’ll trust you to contribute in good faith and to make your words a gift to this community.”

That’s the spirit of the original wiki, invented by programmer Ward Cunningham, that persists in Wikipedia today. It’s also one of the great quotes from an interview Ward did recently in honor of winning the Excellence in Programming Award from Dr. Dobb’s Journal.

This award has been given out intermittently since 1995, and exists to recognize outstanding contributions to software development. It also comes with a donation of $1,000 to a non-profit of the recipient’s choice. Ward has kindly chosen the Wikimedia Foundation, in order to support Wikipedia and all our projects.

The Wikimedia movement has long owed much of our success to the work set down in the original wiki and its community. From inventing the software we depend on, to serving on our Advisory Board, Ward’s contributions since 2001 have been essential for us to create thriving community-based projects.

While the award from Dr. Dobb’s is for Ward’s contributions to the craft of programming, we think that some of his most important contributions to the world are less technical. As he says about the original wiki: “everyday that I spent hours on that wiki, I would say to myself, ‘I’ve got to stop doing this. I’ve got to focus on my business. I have work to do.’ Thank goodness I didn’t bother to do that work and fiddled with wiki instead!”

That description of donating time to a cherished project is a sentiment mirrored today in the volunteer contributions of Wikimedians all around the world. Thank you to Ward for his continued generosity over the last 11 years.

Steven Walling
Community Organizer

Today we’re very pleased to announce two new members of the Wikimedia Foundation Advisory Board.

Mimi Ito is a cultural anthropologist examining children and youth’s changing relationships to media and communications. She is an Associate Researcher with the University of California Humanities Research Institute with appointments in the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine.

Jing Wang is an author and editor of seven books, Professor of Chinese Cultural Studies at MIT and founder and organizer of MIT’s New Media Action Lab. She is also an affiliated faculty with MIT’s Comparative Media Studies. In spring 2009, Professor Wang launched an NGO 2.0 project in collaboration with two Chinese universities, three Chinese NGOs, and three corporate partners including Ogilvy & Mather China and Frog Design.

The Foundation’s Advisory Board consists of an international network of experts and advisors in a range of topics, including technology, education, law, media and communications and philanthropy. The Advisory Board provides strategic advice to the Foundation and to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Welcome, Mimi and Jing!

Jay Walsh, Communications

Earlier today the Foundation announced in a press release that Roger McNamee, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Elevation Partners (and a professional musician!) has joined the Wikimedia Advisory Board.  Roger’s been working with the Foundation since before our move to the bay area, both as an active supporter of Wikipedia and the Foundation’s project, and helping to introduce us to many new stakeholders and like-minded organizations.

Welcome, Roger!

Jay Walsh, Communications<

Today we’re very pleased to announce that Neeru Khosla will be joining the Wikimedia Advisory Board. Neeru is co-founder of CK-12, a non-profit based in Palo Alto, California which is pioneering the concept of “open source textbooks.”

The Advisory Board provides help and advice to the Wikimedia Foundation on a range of topics and issues, predominantly in the education, technology, philanthropic, and legal fields. Neeru will be adding to the broad range of experiences and skills reflected in the Board. Welcome, Neeru!

Jay Walsh, Head of Communications

Among the many major activities and goings-on at this year’s Wikimania was a decision from our Board of Trustees about new appointments to the WMF Board.

In a press release sent out yesterday, Jan-Bart De Vreede, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees announced that fellow Board member Michael Snow will assume the role of Chair of the Board of Trustees.  Long-standing Board member Florence Devouard stepped down as Board Chair, however we are very pleased to announce that she will assume a seat on the Wikimedia Advisory Board.

The Board also took the opportunity to formally welcome new Board member Ting Chen, who was elected by the Wikimedia community during the recent Board seat election.

Welcome Ting Chen, and congratulations Michael!

Jay Walsh, Head of Communications<