Co-Founder and Director of DreamBox Learning
Greater Seattle Area
- Current
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- Co-Founder and Director at DreamBox Learning, Inc.
- Director at Garfield High School Foundation
- Trustee at Northwestern University
- Partner at Social Venture Partners
- Trustee at Wissner-Slivka Foundation
- Past
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- Director at TeachFirst.com
- Director, Enterprise Resource Planning at Amazon.com
- Software Design Engineer at Microsoft Corporation
- Staff Programmer at Northwestern University
- Junior Programmer at IBM Corporation
- Education
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- Northwestern University
- Northwestern University
- Northwestern University
1 more...
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3 people have recommended Ben - Connections
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- Websites
Ben Slivka’s Summary
Ben is Co-Founder and Director of DreamBox Learning, whose K-2 Math product combines serious learning with serious fun. Over time DreamBox Learning will cover all ages and all subjects by opening up its platform for individualized learning to third party developers.
Ben previously served on the Advisory Board of UIEvolution (acquired by Square Enix) and as a Director of TeachFirst (teacher training), Vizrea (photo sharing) and GroundSpring.org (online donations).
Ben spent 14 years at Microsoft, where he worked on OS/2, MS-DOS 6, Windows 95, the Java VM, and MSN. He started the Internet Explorer team in 1994 and led it through the release of IE version 3.0 in 1996. IE 3.0 beat Netscape 3.0 in press reviews and achieved 30% market share by the time IE 4.0 released in 1997. Ben installed Microsoft's first production LAN in 1985, proposed the FAT32 file system in 1990, led the team that wrote the Win32 API specification in 1991, and started and led the team that created CAB software distribution files in 1993. His work at Microsoft resulted in 18 issued U.S. patents. Ben also worked brief stints at Amazon and IBM.
Ben and his wife Lisa created the Wissner-Slivka Foundation in 1997, primarily focused on supporting education. His non-profit engagements include Bellevue Schools Foundation, Garfield High School Foundation, and Social Venture Partners, where he was the lead partner for Seattle MESA.
Ben earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science and a B.S. degree in Applied Mathematics from Northwestern University, where he has served as a Trustee since 1998.
Ben Slivka’s Experience
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Co-Founder and Director
DreamBox Learning, Inc.
(Broadcast Media industry)
February 2006 — Present (3 years 10 months)
Serious learning that's seriously fun.
We envision a future where every student enjoys an individually-tailored, world class learning experience. K-2 Math launched 1/2009 and Math Classroom launched 4/2009. -
Director
Garfield High School Foundation
(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Fund-Raising industry)
May 2002 — Present (7 years 7 months)
Started in 2002, Garfield HS Foundation's mission is to raise money to support current students of Garfield High School in Seattle, WA. See www.GarfieldHSF.org for more information.
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Trustee
Northwestern University
(Educational Institution; 1001-5000 employees; Higher Education industry)
October 1998 — Present (11 years 2 months)
Ben serves on the Alumni Releations and Development, Major Gifts, Budget, and Information Technology committees of the Board of Trustees.
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Partner
Social Venture Partners
(Non-Profit; Philanthropy industry)
January 1998 — Present (11 years 11 months)
Served on K-12 Grant Committee in 2002-2003 and was Lead Partner for SVP investment in Seattle MESA from 2003-2008.
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Trustee
Wissner-Slivka Foundation
(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Philanthropy industry)
December 1997 — Present (12 years )
WSF has given in the past primarily to educational institutions. See www.slivka.org for details.
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Director
TeachFirst.com
(Primary/Secondary Education industry)
May 2003 — December 2008 (5 years 8 months)
TeachFirst aims to increase student achievement by increasing teacher quality and effectiveness. We do this by implementing and sustaining school-based collaborative professional development aligned to student learning needs.
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Director, Enterprise Resource Planning
Amazon.com
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; AMZN; Computer Software industry)
September 1999 — June 2000 (10 months)
Responsible for 160+ person team developing software systems for supply chain, distribution center, and customer service. Also managed finance, HR, and legal systems.
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Software Design Engineer
Microsoft Corporation
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry)
June 1985 — August 1999 (14 years 3 months)
Worked on OS/2, MS-DOS 6, Windows 95, the Java VM, and MSN in 14 years at Microsoft. Started the Internet Explorer team in 1994 and led it through the release of IE version 3.0 in 1996. IE 3.0 beat Netscape 3.0 in press reviews and achieved 30% marketshare by the time IE 4.0 released in 1997. Installed Microsft's first production LAN in 1985, proposed the FAT32 file system in 1990, and led the team that wrote the Win32 API specification in 1991. Also started and led the team that created CAB software distribution files and DMF floppy disks, which reduced the number floppies in Office and Windows by 28%, saving over $60 million/year in 1994 and 1995.
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Staff Programmer
Northwestern University
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
June 1983 — June 1985 (2 years 1 month)
Lead programmer for User Services Group. Implemented a simple on-line document index, using a relational database (SIR), provided consulting assistance to users on programming languages, databases, statistical packages. Created NUInfo, a rudimentary online information system. Worked full-time while obtaining MS CS degree.
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Junior Programmer
IBM Corporation
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; IBM; Computer Hardware industry)
June 1982 — June 1983 (1 year 1 month)
I wrote 7+KLOC of REXX to replace 17+KLOC of PL/S code for a design change request tracking system.
Additional Information
Ben Slivka’s Websites:
Ben Slivka’s Honors:
6,347,398 Automatic software downloading from a computer network
6,256,668 Method for identifying and obtaining computer software from a network computer
6,192,432 Caching uncompressed data on a compressed drive
6,141,018 Method and system for displaying hypertext documents with visual effects
6,061,695 Operating system shell having a windowing graphical user interface with a desktop displayed as a hypertext multimedia document
6,049,671 Method for identifying and obtaining computer software from a network computer
5,915,129 Method and System for Storing Uncompressed Data in a Memory Cache that is Destined for a Compressed File System
5,845,084 Automatic data display formatting with a networking application
5,815,705 Method and computer system for integrating a compression system with an OS
5,572,206 Data compression method and system
5,493,649 Detecting corruption in a computer program at execution time using a checksum
5,455,577 Method and system for data compression
