Edwin Van Wyck "Ed" Zschau (; born January 6, 1940) is an American educator who represented

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

's 12th District in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from 1983 to 1987. In 1986 he ran as the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate for a seat in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. He prevailed in a crowded Republican primary that included, among others,

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

commentator Bruce Herschensohn,

Los Angeles County supervisor The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...

Michael D. Antonovich and Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler, but then lost to

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Alan Cranston by a narrow margin. Zschau briefly re-entered the political arena as the vice presidential running mate to former Colorado Governor

Dick Lamm Richard Douglas Lamm (August 3, 1935 – July 29, 2021) was an American politician, writer, and attorney. He served three terms as 38th Governor of Colorado as a Democrat (1975–1987) and ran for the Reform Party's nomination for Preside ...

, a Democrat, who challenged Ross Perot for the Reform Party presidential nomination in 1996. On May 26, 2019, Dr. Zschau became the Interim President of

Sierra Nevada College Sierra Nevada University (SNU) was a private university in Incline Village, Nevada in the Sierras. In 2022 it became University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. Founded in 1969, Sierra Nevada College was accredited by the Northwest Commission o ...

, a role he held until the appointment of his successor the following year.

Biography

Zschau was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

and was a

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

champion in his teenage years. Zschau graduated cum laude with an A.B. in philosophy from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1961 after completing a senior thesis titled "Space Time and Geometry from

Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...

to Einstein." He also holds M.B.A., M.S. (statistics), and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University. During the 1960s, Zschau was for five years an assistant professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, teaching courses in computer systems, management science, and business policy. In 1967–68 he was a visiting assistant professor at the Harvard Business School, where he taught the required first year MBA course in managerial economics. In 1968 Zschau founded a computer company,

System Industries System Industries, Inc., was an American computer hardware company active from 1968 to 1993. It produced printers and disk drives for minicomputers. History The firm was founded in 1968 by Ed Zschau with backing from Brentwood Associates, a pr ...

. One of his collaborators in founding this company was Henry B. Eyring. Zschau served as CEO of System Industries from 1968 to 1981. In 1987 Zschau became a general partner of

Brentwood Associates Brentwood Associates is a private equity firm in the US with groups focusing on leveraged buyout. The firm, which is based in Los Angeles, was founded in 1972. Their most recent fund was a $1.15bn fund raised in 2017. The venture capital group ...

, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, and in 1988, he was elected chairman and CEO of Censtor Corp., a company which had been founded by ''Brentwood'' to develop advanced magnetic recording components for disk drives. He was recruited to be chairman and CEO of Adstar, the IBM Storage Systems Division, in 1993. Zschau is also the founding chairman, emeritus, and a member of the National Advisory Board of

The Tech Museum of Innovation The Tech Interactive (formerly The Tech Museum of Innovation, commonly known as The Tech) is a science and technology center that offers hands-on activities, labs, design challenges and other STEAM education resources. It is located in downtown Sa ...

in San Jose, is on the board of scholars of the ACCF Center for Policy Research in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and is a fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology. He serves as chairman of the board of NanoOpto Corporation, Princeton Power Systems, and StarTek, Inc. (NYSE), President of Polyera Corporation, as a director of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (NYSE), and Washington Live, Inc. Zschau is currently a visiting lecturer with rank of professor at

in the Departments of Electrical Engineering, Operations Research and Financial Engineering, and in the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education. Prior to his current post at Princeton, from 1997 to 2000, he was professor of management at the Harvard Business School and a visiting professor at

. During his years at Princeton, Zschau was a professor and mentor to

Tim Ferriss Timothy Ferriss (born July 20, 1977) is an American entrepreneur, investor, author, podcaster, and lifestyle guru. He became well-known through his ''4-Hour'' self-help book series—including ''The 4-Hour Work Week'', ''The 4-Hour Body'', and '' ...

. In the summer of 2019, Zschau accepted a pro bono position as Interim President of

Sierra Nevada University Sierra Nevada University (SNU) was a private university in Incline Village, Nevada in the Sierras. In 2022 it became University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. Founded in 1969, Sierra Nevada College was accredited by the Northwest Commission o ...

, in

Incline Village, Nevada Incline Village is a census-designated place (CDP) on the north shore of Lake Tahoe in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The population was 8,777 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Reno− Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Until the ...

Personal life

Zschau and his wife, Jo, currently reside in

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a Consolidated city-county, combined county/town government t ...

, and

Los Altos, California Los Altos (; Spanish for "The Heights") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 31,625 according to the 2020 census. Most of the city's growth occurred between 1950 and 1980. Originally ...

. They have one son and two daughters. Zschau is skilled in playing the

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

and was known to some as the "singing congressman".Eaton and Eyring, ''I Will Lead You Along'', p. 112

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zschau, Ed 1940 births Living people IBM employees Politicians from Omaha, Nebraska Princeton University faculty Harvard Business School faculty Stanford University Graduate School of Business faculty Stanford University alumni Reform Party of the United States of America politicians Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska