Charles Simonyi (b. 1948) is a software architect who worked at Microsoft from 1981 until 2002, leading the team that created Word, Excel, and other applications. During his time there, he served as director of application development, chief architect, and distinguished engineer.

Born in Hungary, Simonyi came the U.S. in 1968. He worked at Xerox PARC from 1972 until 1980, leading the team that developed Bravo, the first WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) word-processing editor. In 1981, he started at Microsoft, where he was hired to develop microcomputer software applications; in 1991 he moved to Microsoft Research, working on “intentional programming.” Simonyi left Microsoft in 2002 to start his own company, Intentional Software Corporation, focused on creating tools and platforms for productivity applications.

In 2003, Simonyi established the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, a foundation providing funding to arts, science, and education organizations in the Seattle region and internationally.

Caption information source: “Intentional Programming: A Talk with Charles Simonyi,” June 22, 1998, retrieved from the Edge.org website at https://www.edge.org/conversation/charles_simonyi-intentional-programming
Caption information source: “Charles Simonyi,” Computer History Museum website, retrieved at https://computerhistory.org/profile/charles-simonyi/