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JIMMY WALES
FOUNDER, WIKIPEDIA
Jimmy Wales is the founder of Wikipedia, an open, editable, multilingual online encyclopedia written collaboratively by contributors around the world. In March 2000, Wales started Nupedia.com, a Web-based encyclopedia whose articles were written by experts and licensed as free content.
In 2003, he dropped Nupedia to concentrate on the rapidly growing Wikipedia, which accepted entries from the global community. That year he also founded the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit corporation which operates Wikipedia and several other projects. Wales is also founder of the for-profit company Wikia Inc. which manages Wikia, a collection of more than 1000 wiki communities, and hosts Memory Alpha, a Star Trek encyclopedia, Uncyclopedia, a parody encyclopedia, as well as Wookieepedia, dealing with the Star Wars films.
Wales, who calls himself an “uncompromising defender” of free speech, also will discuss how individuals in countries with strong protection for individual rights have tremendous power to do positive things (like build Wikipedia), out of no other motive than “to do good”.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University in Alabama and a master’s degree from the University of Alabama. Wales lectured throughout the world on free speech issues and has taught at the University of Alabama and Indiana University.
