CEO
Packet Design
(profile at the time of induction in 2002)
After successfully co-founding three communication companies, Judy Estrin, with her partner and husband Bill Carrico, established their fourth company, Packet Design, to incubate new companies spun off from internal research. The first spin-off is Vernier Networks, launched in 2001 to provide products to allow users to protect, manage and control wireless networks.
Prior to Packet Design, Ms. Estrin co-founded three companies: Bridge Communication, Network Computing Devices and Precept Software. Bridge Communication was a vendor of network routers and bridges; the company went public in 1985 and merged with 3Com Corporation in 1987. Ms. Estrin served as Engineering Vice President and Executive VP of Bridge and later ran the Bridge Communications Division of 3Com. Her second company, Network Computing Devices, a maker of X Terminals and PC-UNIOX Integration Software, went public in 1992. She started with NCD as Executive Vice President and became CEO in 1993. Ms. Estrin served as CEO of Precept Software, a maker of streaming video software, from the company's 1995 founding. Cisco Systems acquired Precept in 1998, and she became Cisco's Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
During her two years as Cisco CTO, Ms. Estrin was twice named to Fortune Magazine's list of 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business. She sits on the Board of Directors of Walt Disney Company, The Federal Express Corporation and Sun Microsystems.
Ms. Estrin holds a B.S. in Math and Computer Science from UCLA and an M.S. in Electric Engineering from Stanford University.
