Austin Chamber To Honor Admiral Bobby Inman, Pike Powers

AUSTIN, TX — The Austin Chamber will be hosting the Austin Technology Incubator's George Kozmetsky Lifetime Achievement Awards Luncheon honoring Admiral Bobby Inman and Pike Powers on Friday, Aug. 30.

The George Kozmetsky Lifetime Achievement Award was established to recognize a person or people who have had a significant impact on the world of innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development in Austin, Central Texas, and beyond, chamber officials explained. Inman and Powers are being recognized for their significant contribution to Austin’s technology ecosystem and economic impact in this sold-out event.

Both Inman and Powers helped develop the Austin technology community and helped Austin land the Microelectronics and Computer Cooperation (MCC). MCC was an effort in the U.S. in the early 1980s to bring together semiconductor firms to compete with innovations happening in other countries, notably Japan. Austin won the bid for MCC over 56 other cities including Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, and San Diego. There were many influential figures in this effort, including Governor Mark White, UT President Bill Powers, Ross Perot, and George Kozmetsky. Pike Powers played a pivotal role in coordinating this recruitment effort, and Admiral Inman served as the initial CEO of the project.

What: Austin Technology Incubator's George Kozmetsky Lifetime Achievement Awards Luncheon hosted by the Austin Chamber of Commerce

Who: Austin Technology Incubator, Admiral Bobby Inman, Pike Powers; Aaron Kozmetsky, George’s grandson, will present the awards to each recipient.

Where: Headliners Club, 221 West 6th Street, Suite 2100

When: Friday, Aug. 30; 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

About Admiral Bobby Inman

Admiral Bobby Inman served in the U.S. Navy from 1951-1982 and was Director of National Security Agency and Director of Central Intelligence. He is a Hall of Honor member of the NSA. He was put in charge of the process of finding a site for MCC, and in the role of CEO, he played a crucial role in creating a cluster of IC-chip manufacturers in Austin, which had a significant long-term impact on the Austin economy. Adm. Inman holds the Lyndon B. Johnson Centennial Chair in National Policy and has served as interim dean of the LBJ School of Public Policy for two tenures. He is also a member of the steering committee of the UT Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship certificate program.

About Pike Powers

Pike Powers is a graduate of UT Law School. He served as a representative in the Texas State Legislature from 1972 to 1979 and has been a partner at the firm of Fulbright and Jaworsky since 1978. After serving several terms in the Texas government, he was also an executive assistant to Governor Mark White and served on Governor Rick Perry’s biotechnology council. His leadership efforts build and coordinated the team that brought the MCC and Sematech to Austin as well as advancing the economic growth of Austin through these key relationships. Throughout his career, he was a significant participant in Austin’s high-tech community. The influence of his efforts continues to be felt today by his service on many boards and the Pike Powers Laboratory in Austin.