...More About Director Neal Checkoway
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Born and raised in Massachusetts, Neal’s first career after graduation from Tufts University was as a high school teacher of English and journalism (which he maintains was the hardest job he ever had…) But the financial pressures of raising a family drove him to work during summers in industry where he gained experience working with mainframe and mini computers. So, after teaching for nine years and despite earning an MEd in Secondary Education Administration, Neal decided to make a career transition into the realm of high technology, first as a technical writer, then as a marketer (he helped launch personal computers in the US in the early 80’s), and eventually as an executive. After a move to California in the early 90’s, Neal took over as president and CEO of a San Francisco-based travel technology company. There, he turned his idea for an easily-accessed online travel information service into Travelocity, which the company eventually sold to its present owner SABRE. Shortly after this, in 1998, along with wife Shellie, he fulfilled a lifelong dream and spent a fascinating year-and-a-half as a Peace Corps volunteer posted to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. However, a month after his return to the US in 1999, Neal was seriously injured in an airplane crash near Washington, DC. It was from his hospital bed back in San Francisco that Neal and his son conceived and launched a new wireless technology business, which they sold a year-and-a-half later. Then, in early 2001, Neal and Shellie retired to Lakeside. |
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Email Neal at: neal@checkoway.com