W. Joseph "Joey" King '93
In 2000, Southwestern University alumnus W. Joseph "Joey" King '93 donated $500,000 to Southwestern University to establish and endow the King Creativity Fund, which annually supports "innovative and visionary projects" of enrolled students.
"I saw this as a pilot project in creativity," King explains. "If the students would be self-motivated enough to apply for the grant, it shows they can be self-motivated to teach themselves. This program allows them to have the financial means to select the subject in which they are interested and learn by doing. I call it the 'Gospel of Creativity.'"
King says returning to campus to see the initial results was the best part. "They were so varied. Did I think someone would make a life-sized mold of my hand? No. Did I imagine the fund would help establish an independant film making organization? No. I didn't see any projects that I would have done-and that's exactly the point!"
W. Joseph King is president of QOOP. Previously, he was the executive director of Connexions at Rice University. He has extensive background as a technology entrepreneur. He was on the founding team of F5 Networks (Nasdaq: FFIV) and Zama Networks. He serves on the board of directors of QOOP, Hanson Robotics, and HYCA Financial Services.
Dr. King served as the 2007 entrepreneur-in-residence at TECHFortWorth. He also served as an adjunct professor at the TCU Neeley School of Business where he was nominated for the Most Inspiring Professor award. Formerly, he was a research scientist at the Human Interface Technology Laboratory at the University of Washington.
He has conducted research at Hughes Research Laboratories, GTE Telecommunications Research, and the Advanced Telecommunication Research Institute. In addition, he has served as a consultant to Rapport, Siemens ModViz, Hughes Electronics, Microsoft, Interval Research, Walt Disney Imagineering, and Atari Games.
Dr. King is a trustee of Southwestern University, chairman of board of Rice University Press, vice chairman of the board of Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, and a board member of Connexions. Formerly, he served on the board of Benaroya Research Institute and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. He holds a B.A. with honors from Southwestern University and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.
