Andrew Bosworth

Andrew "Boz" Bosworth is an American computer scientist. He is currently vice president of augmented and virtual reality at Facebook.[1] After graduating from Harvard University in 2004, he worked as a developer on Microsoft Visio for almost two years, then joined Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook in January 2006, where he created News Feed.[2]

Early life and education

Bosworth was born and raised in Santa Clara County, California.[3] He grew up on a farm in Saratoga and was involved in agricultural endeavors with nonprofit 4-H as a child.[4][5] Bosworth attended Harvard University and met Zuckerberg while working as a teaching assistant in an artificial intelligence class.[6] Bosworth graduated from Harvard University in 2004.[7][8]

Career

Bosworth began his career working for Microsoft as a developer on Microsoft Visio. In 2006, Bosworth received a call from a recruiter looking for a candidate with a background in artificial intelligence. From this, he joined the team of Facebook as one of the first 15 engineers at the company.[6][9]

In 2012, Bosworth took initiative over the transition between desktop advertising and mobile advertising, where he oversaw the mobile ad product.[10]

In August 2017, Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer announced that Bosworth would be transitioning to the role of vice-president for augmented reality and virtual reality, and Mark Rabkin would assume Bosworth's current responsibilities.[11][12]

Memo controversy

On June 18, 2016, Bosworth wrote a memo circulated internally within Facebook titled "The Ugly," arguing that connecting people was a paramount goal for Facebook, and justified many of the company's practices. The memo also acknowledged that this could have negative consequences, such as the potential to be used by terrorist attacks coordinated via Facebook. The publication date of the memo was a day after the shooting and death of a Chicago man was recorded via Facebook Live. The memo generated strong, polarized reactions within the company. The memo was leaked to and reported on by BuzzFeed on March 29, 2018.[13][14][1]

In a statement given to BuzzFeed after publication of the story, Facebook CEO and principal founder Mark Zuckerberg said: "Boz is a talented leader who says many provocative things. This was one that most people at Facebook including myself disagreed with strongly. We've never believed the ends justify the means. We recognize that connecting people isn't enough by itself. We also need to work to bring people closer together. We changed our whole mission and company focus to reflect this last year."[13][14]

Responding to the publication of the memo by BuzzFeed, Bosworth wrote: "I don't agree with the post today and I didn't agree with it even when I wrote it. The purpose of this post, like many others I have written internally, was to bring to the surface issues I felt deserved more discussion with the broader company."[15]

Philanthropy

Bosworth serves as the vice chair on the board of directors for the Peninsula Open Space Trust.[16][17] He is additionally involved in his local community by being recognized as the 2019 keynote speaker for the Burlingame/SFO Chamber of Commerce.[18] Bosworth also participates in events as an alumnus of nonprofit 4-H, where he has previously received recognition such as the Distinguished Alumni Medallion award.[19]

Personal life

Bosworth is married to April Bosworth (née Wood).[20][21]

References
  1. "Facebook wishes it could 'hit delete' on the notorious Andrew Bosworth memo justifying growth at all costs". businessinsider.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  2. "Andrew Bosworth". crunchbase.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  3. "Who Are You and Why Should I Care?". boz.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  4. Kavilanz, Parija (April 14, 2016). "Facebook's ad chief: Let's rethink STEM". CNN Tech.
  5. "National 4‑H Council Announces Group of Prominent Alumni to Help Grow 4‑H". 4-H. March 21, 2017.
  6. Guynn, Jessica (July 31, 2011). "Profile: Andrew Bosworth, Facebook social engineer". Los Angeles Times.
  7. Mattson, Sophie (December 9, 2011). "Alumnus Bosworth presents to Leadership students". Falcon Online. Saratoga High School.
  8. Swift, Mike (February 5, 2012). "Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook: Focused from the beginning". The Mercury News.
  9. "Inside Facebook". Fortune. May 16, 2012.
  10. Shinal, Josh (October 19, 2017). "Mark Zuckerberg turns to a key troubleshooter, Andrew Bosworth, for hardware success". CNBC.
  11. Cohen, David (August 24, 2017). "One of Facebook's Big Guns Is Shifting His Focus to Hardware. Andrew Bosworth will now lead the company's consumer hardware efforts". Adweek. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  12. Johnson, Khari (August 23, 2017). "Facebook brings its AR, VR, and consumer hardware teams closer together". VentureBeat. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  13. Mac, Ryan; Warzel, Charlie; Kantrowitz, Alex (March 29, 2018). "Top Facebook Executive Defended Data Collection In 2016 Memo — And Warned That Facebook Could Get People Killed. Facebook Vice President Andrew "Boz" Bosworth said that "questionable contact importing practices," "subtle language that helps people stay searchable," and other growth techniques are justified by the company's connecting of people". Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  14. Selk, Avi (March 30, 2018). "'Maybe someone dies': Facebook VP justified bullying, terrorism as costs of network's 'growth'". Washington Post. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  15. Morse, Jack (March 29, 2018). "Facebook VP Andrew Bosworth frantically takes to Twitter following leaked memo". Mashable. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  16. "POST Staff & Board". Peninsula Open Space Trust.
  17. "Facebook exec joins open space trust". The Almanac. August 13, 2013.
  18. "Burlingame/SFO Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting". Burlingame Chamber of Commerce. January 1, 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  19. "Celebrating the life-changing impact of 4-H". Dairy Business. March 22, 2018.
  20. Chandler, Elizabeth Khuri. "Edge of Tomorrow". C Magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-10-03.
  21. Christy, Kelcy. "April Wood & Andrew Bosworth". Inside Weddings.

[1]

Official website

  1. "Andrew Bosworth on maximizing a personal API".
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