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Bio - Marc Siegel
Manager, NASA Quest
I live in San Jose, California with my wife Amy and my hilarious three year
old daughter Kelly Rose (aka Kiyo). Amy is a social worker and she works
as a child therapist, helping kids deal with their personal problems. Kelly
Rose is an adventure girl and she likes to run around and play rough. She
has an imaginary friend named Dan-Dan. We don't know if Dan-Dan is a boy
or a girl but Kiyo says she'll invite Dan-Dan to her next birthday party
so we can find out. Amy is pregnant so we are expecting our last child (another
girl) on April 13. We also have a brilliant son named Toonces (he's a tiger
gray cat). He can do many special tricks, like open doors and drink from
the toilet. Amy swears he can do math, but I don't think so.
San Jose is in Silicon Valley, which is the home to many networking
and computer companies. Originally I am from New Jersey, and all of my
family still lives there. When I was about 5, my parents got divorced,
so I've always had two families back East. I have four sisters (real,
step and half) and two real brothers. Except for one sister, I am the
oldest kid. Most of my siblings are married with kids, so there's lots
more close relatives as well. So that is the story on my immediate family.
They all do live back East so I only get to see them about twice per year.
My wife Amy has a brother and sister who live close to us now. They
are both married and between them have four young sons and a daughter
(my nephews and nieces). Also, Amy's parents live only two hours away.
So I do feel like I am surrounded by nearby family, since I really enjoy
being with Amy's family.
I graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University
of Rochester (in New York) in 1984. Since then, I have been involved with
computer networks ever since. I went to work for NASA out of school because
I loved rockets and airplanes. I got a lot of responsibility fast, since
there was a shortage of folks in my group. I led the development of various
communication projects for NASA Ames including an international network
which now connects scientists around the world, including Antarctica.
Then I left NASA and founded a successful communications contracting firm
which became a Bay Area leader in fiber optics. In my spare time, I co-founded
SV-PAL, a Bay Area community network; I did this as a volunteer (without
pay), because I really believed that people must become more familiar
with online networks to thrive in the future.
Since 1992, I've focused on helping K-12 teachers make effective use
of the Internet and I have personally taught Internet skills to hundreds
of people. I'm presently a leader at NASA Quest; over the years, in this
role I helped develop the Internet program at Monta Vista High School
which led to Vice President Al Gore's visit in January 1994. He is a bit
of a hero to me, so it was definately a big highlight for me. I co- produced
the "Global Quest" video about schools and Internet which has since become
NASA's all-time most popular K-12 video. Presently, I work on projects
which enable students to meet scientists and technical experts to gain
first hand experience with the vibrant world of modern research.
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