Jay Kear

Jay L. Kear is one of the original early pioneers in high technology.While he was attending USC in the late ’50s and early ’60s, the School of Engineering had one Univac computer system that was used for accounting functions. In those days, there were no courses offered by any university in computer software or hardware. Electronic calculators had not yet been invented, requiring all of the engineering students to use slide rules for calculating solutions to problems.

Upon graduation in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Jay turned down a job offer from IBM, as he was not sure that computers were here to stay. Instead he joined the General Electric Company where it quickly became clear to him that computers indeed were going to be the industry of the future. He transferred to the GE Computer Department where he became a systems engineer for GE business and scientific computers.

 In those early days, a large mainframe would require a dedicated air-conditioned room with raised floors to house the cool air plenum, as well as the massive power and logic cables. Programming was not performed with compilers, but rather by binary machine language that was input by paper tape or punched cards. By comparison, a multimillion- dollar computer system in the early ’60s did not have the computational power of our modern-day notebook computers.When the General Electric Company decided to get out of the computer business in the late 1960s, Jay made the decision to stay in the business by joining General Automation, an early minicomputer company. From that point on, his career led him to several high technology companies, working with several other early pioneers.

Perhaps of greatest interest was Jay’s mentor, Ray Noorda, whom he worked with at General Electric and General Automation. Following this, Jay worked with him again when Noorda was chairman and CEO of Novell. Jay’s role was to make and manage venture capital investments in high-technology companies. In this capacity, he represented Noorda and his venture capital company on the board of directors of several portfolio companies.

While working with Noorda, Jay presented a company to him that wanted a $1.5 million venture investment. After hearing the company’s business plan, Noorda told Jay that he would invest the $1.5 million if Jay would join its Board of Directors as Chairman and teach the CEO how to be a CEO. This created an opportunity for Jay to work with this company, as well as several others, as a mentor for their CEOs.

“I felt that I could give back to the younger executives by sharing some of the lessons that I learned from many years in the industry,” says Jay. One of his most rewarding moments came when a CEO that he was working with became the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Orange County, California.

In 1993, Jay formed Kear Enterprises to provide early stage investments and board-level services for emerging growth high-technology companies. Kear Enterprises addresses such critical issues as:

• Proper corporate governance
• Strategic planning
• Marketing and sales
• Financing strategy
• Management teams
• Boards of directors
• Increasing shareholder value
• Strategic paths to liquidity

Since being elected to his first board of directors in 1970, Jay has served on over 40 corporate boards, both public and private.

At the present time, Jay is a board member of LeadingWay, Aspeon Solutions, Think Outside,Microspeed, Sequel, and In.Vision Research. These companies are either private or public high technology companies. He also participates on the board of several LLC’s, some non-profit boards and numerous advisory boards.

C.L. Max Nikias, Lauren and Jay L. Kear at a reception in San Diego

In 1998, the Orange County Forum for Corporate Directors honored Jay as the Director of the Year for Emerging Growth Companies. He remains one of the most sought-after individuals for the role of director at software and hardware high technology companies in Southern California.

Skiing and golf are Jay’s great athletic passions, but even when playing he finds business opportunities. He built a personal residence in Telluride, Colorado, to pursue his passion for the mountains, golf, and skiing. While in Telluride, he started a real estate development business, successfully completing a single-family spec house, several condominiums and a large 110-unit condominium hotel, which is currently managed by Wyndham Resorts. His enthusiasm for athletics eventually landed him on the board of a company called University Netcasting, which is an Internet affinity sports site for most major universities, including USC.

Connections to the School of Engineering remain strong, as Jay currently serves as the Chairman of the School’s Board of Councilors, an advisory board to the dean made up of alumni and business professionals. Dean C.L.Max Nikias enjoys a close working relationship with Jay. “I enjoy speaking with Jay and getting his advice on decisions we are making for the school.” Nikias says, “He truly cares about engineering and has great ideas and talents to share.”

Jay echoes these sentiments for himself when talking about his involvement with the School. “I love USC, and I love the School of Engineering. I’m trying to give back of my time and my talents. It’s very rewarding and I enjoy it a lot.”When asked where he thinks the school is headed, he is truly excited about the future. “I think if we follow Max’s vision, USC will become one the top engineering schools in the country and that will position us with some pretty good company!”

In addition to several years of service on the Board of Councilors, Jay also served on the Commercialization Advisory Board. He is also co-chair of the USC Orange County Advisory Council Development Subcommittee. He has been a guest speaker in the Dean’s Seminar on Entrepreneurship, a class jointly taught through the Marshall School of Business and the School of Engineering.

While employed by the General Electric Company, Jay found time to attend the Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester and the University of Southern California. He has co-authored a book on software business startups.

Jay resides in Newport Coast, California with his wife, Lauren. Jay has three grown daughters who also reside in Southern California and are all USC graduates. His plans include his four grandchildren following in the Trojan Family tradition and one day attending USC.Who knows, we may even have another USC engineer or two in the Kear family.