Jeff Raikes
Jeff Raikes
Overview
Jeff leads the foundation’s efforts to promote equity for all people around the world. He sets strategic priorities, monitors results, and facilitates relationships with key partners for all three of our program groups. Before joining the foundation, he was a member of Microsoft’s senior leadership team, leading a variety of divisions and groups within the company. He joined Microsoft in 1981 as a product manager. Promoted to director of applications marketing in 1984, he was the chief strategist behind the company’s success in graphical applications for the Apple Macintosh and the Microsoft Windows operating system and the creation of the Microsoft Office suite of productivity applications. Before joining Microsoft, he was a software development manager at Apple Computer Inc. Jeff, a Nebraska native, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering-economic systems from Stanford University. He also serves on the board of directors for Costco Wholesale Corp. and the Microsoft Alumni Foundation, where he is chair of the board. In June 2008, the Board of Regents at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln renamed the J.D. Edwards Honors Program in Computer Science and Management to the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management.