[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 193 (Wednesday, December 4, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE LIFE OF GEORGE VANECEK

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RO KHANNA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 4, 2019

  Mr. KHANNA. Madam Speaker, today I honor the life of George Vanecek, 
a key leader in the development of the internet and Silicon Valley. He 
passed away this September at the age of 61.
  Born in Prague, Czech Republic, George escaped his home country as a 
boy with his family during the Prague Spring of 1968 after refusing to 
join the Czech Communist Party. They settled in the Oregon mountains. 
He was proud of his adoptive home and believed deeply in its promise of 
opportunity.
  It was this appreciation that drove George's career, but it was his 
brilliant mind that steered it. George was not only an award-winning 
programmer at a young age; he was also a talented painter. He applied 
this artistry to the field of computing. After completing his PhD in 
computer science, George helped pioneer the first http servers at the 
National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) before bringing the 
world wide web to Purdue University, where he was a professor of 
computer science and won the Excellence in Teaching Award early in his 
academic tenure. Then, at AT&T Labs Internet Platforms Division in San 
Jose, he oversaw the development of a vast platform for internet 
commerce. George co-founded several companies, working in areas like 
telecommunications and the early internet of things (IoT). George did 
this work with pride in the opportunity he had been given when he came 
to America. He cared deeply about giving back by developing systems in 
which computers enhanced human capacity. With an eye to the future, 
George's creativity and vision allowed him to become a leader in his 
field.
  In his final position as Vice President and Chief Architect of 
Technical Architecture at FICO, he worked on solutions to today's big 
problems, like fraud detection and algorithmic bias, designing and 
overseeing the construction of a data streaming platform that could 
derive intelligent decisions from large amounts of data in real time. 
Perhaps more strikingly, George was known among his peers for showing 
up in the office wearing full leather, having just parked the Aprilia 
Tuono motorcycle he rode between lanes of traffic into the Santa Clara 
office each morning, not far from my district office.
  George was not only a scientist but was also a friend and mentor to 
many throughout his career and life. He volunteered his time helping 
small business owners get started in his community. He was a scuba 
diver, a glider pilot, and a world traveler. He and his family foraged 
for mushrooms along California's many hiking trails and explored its 
wineries and local breweries. Madam Speaker, George was a Bay Area man 
through and through, and I'm proud to recognize him today for his 
contributions to our community.

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