Viking Magazine - June 2018 - 14

getting a job in his group was a real boost to my confidence, "
says Myhrvold. In the end, however, the Wild West of California
tech innovation called. It was the mid-1980s, and there was
money to be made and ideas to be explored. So Myhrvold left
Cambridge - and Hawking - to cofound a Bay Area computer
startup, one that would be acquired by a little 11-year-old
company called Microsoft just two years later. That acquisition
would prove pivotal in the life of Myhrvold, who moved to
Washington and spent the next 13 years at Microsoft, serving
as chief strategist and eventually the company's first chief
technology officer.
It was a big-thinking, far-reaching, forward-looking job, one
with close access to CEO Bill Gates, who called Myhrvold the
smartest man he knows. " I was in my 20s, fresh off the post-doc
at Cambridge with Stephen Hawking. So I was used to being
challenged by a supersmart, highly driven boss, and Bill certainly
fits that mold. We hit it off really well, " says Myhrvold. " I
think he appreciated having a generalist like me around to look
at what was happening in research, make connections among
various trends, and speculate about how these developments
might shape the company's future. " As chief strategist, those
speculations often took the form of notoriously long memos
hypothesizing the future of computing - including, in 1991,
the idea of a " digital wallet " that would combine a personal
phone, calendar, contacts
and entertainment all
in one small device -
years before the first
smartphone came to
market. That same year,
he also helped Microsoft
become one of the earliest
software companies to
have a computer-science
research arm of its own.
" [Gates] and I came up
with the idea of creating
Microsoft Research,
which became the biggest
commercial research
operation launched for
a generation, so that
the company wouldn't
have to rely on academic
researchers to invent
technology that could
lead to new products. "
Today it employs more
than 1,000 people in labs
Nathan Myhrvold's
Norwegian Roots
Q. What's the meaning of your Norwegian last
name?
A. We aren't entirely sure of the original meaning. It
could be related to the Norwegian words myr (bog)
and vold (harm or violence), perhaps a legacy from
some ancient swamp battle?
Q. Your grandfather was a Minnesota farmer.
How did your Nordic heritage, help shape who
you are today?
A. My grandfather, Adolph Myhrvold, was a
Minnesota wheat farmer in the 1920s. He was also
chairman of the Dudley Grain Elevator Association.
I've always felt farming was in my blood, and even
though I've never worked in agriculture myself,
I have a keen sympathy for how important but
also difficult farming is. So when I set out to
write " Modernist Bread, " I was determined to tell
the story of the role that underappreciated and
underpaid farmers play in our agricultural system.
Q. Your nature photography has spanned
the globe. What's been your favorite place in
Norway to visit?
A. I got a real kick out of visiting the Global Seed
Vault in Svalbard. This huge vault is dug through
the permafrost into the side of a mountain and
holds more than a million seed specimens from
about 6,000 different crop species.
Q. You've received a long list of honors,
including a James Beard Award. What was
your experience like getting inducted into the
Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame at Norsk
Høstfest?
A. I was unaware that there was such a large,
dedicated, and well-organized ScandinavianAmerican
community in the midwestern U.S. It was
a pleasant surprise to learn of the existence of the
Hall of Fame and Norsk Høstfest, and it was even
more wonderful to participate in the event and
meet so many other Norwegian-Americans.
Top: Nathan Myhrvold (left) with
his mentor Stephen Hawking.
Bottom: Myhrvold has a passion for
dinosaur models and researching
their disappearance.
14 VIKING JUNE 2018 sonsofnorway.com
Don't Forget!
The 2018 Norsk Høstfest will be held September 26-29.
hostfest.com
PHOTOS (TOP TO BOTTOM): COURTESY OF INTELLECTUAL VENTURES, BY THE WASHINGTON POST / GETTY IMAGES

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Viking Magazine - June 2018

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