Sandy Lerner

Sandy Lerner
Born	1955 (age 68–69) California, U.S.
Alma mater	California State University, Chico Claremont Graduate School Stanford University
Known for	Co-Founder of Cisco Systems Co-Founder of Urban Decay
Spouse	Leonard Bosack (divorced)

Sandy Lerner (born 1955) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She co-founded Cisco Systems, and used the money from its sale to pursue interests in animal welfare and women's writing. One of her main projects, Chawton House, is in England, but most of her work remains in the United States.

Sandy currently resides in Virginia where she owns Ayrshire Farm. Lerner dedicates her time to Chawton House Library and the animal welfare community worldwide.^[1]

Early life and education

Lerner is a northern California native.^[2] She received her bachelor's degree in 1975 in international relations from California State University, Chico, a master's degree in econometrics in 1977 from the Claremont Graduate School, and a master's degree in statistics and computer science in 1981 from Stanford University.^[3]

Cisco

In 1984, while working as director of computer facilities for the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Lerner co-founded Cisco Systems with her then-partner and now-former husband Len Bosack.^[4][5] Lerner and Bosack worked with Stanford students and faculty on a project to better connect all of the school's computer systems.^[5] They later adapted software used at Stanford into what would become the foundation for Cisco IOS.^[5]

Lerner told the story of Cisco's startup on the podcast How I Built This in which Cisco's early days involved building routers in the living room, financing the business using credit cards. She emphasized the collaborative nature of the work and that despite communication protocols being public domain, developed largely from collaborative work at Stanford, Cisco was still able to produce products people wanted to buy.^[6]

Lerner and Bosack brought in John Morgridge to be the second CEO of Cisco in 1988. On August 28, 1990, Lerner was fired; upon hearing the news, Bosack resigned in solidarity.^[7] The two sold all of their stock for $170 million^[2] and retired from Cisco. Lerner and Bosack divorced in the early 1990s.^[8]

Other business projects

In 1996, Lerner purchased Ayrshire Farm, a 600-acre (2.4 km²) estate in Upperville Virginia.^[9] The circa-1912, 42-room Edwardian mansion of native fieldstone has since been restored and was used for a variety of social functions under Lerner's direction.^[10] Ayrshire Farm's mission has been to farm sustainably and profitably, promoting the benefits of locally produced, humanely-raised meats and organic produce to the consumer, the community, and children through education, outreach and example. The farm was the first in Virginia to meet both Certified Humane and Certified Organic standards.^[9]

Lerner placed a portion of her stock earnings into a start-up venture capital limited partnership called "& Capital Partners."^[11] One of the companies it funded was Urban Decay Cosmetics, with the tag line "does pink make you puke?"^[12][13] In February 2000, Moet-Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), the French luxury goods conglomerate, acquired the firm.^[14] It was spun off from LVMH in December 2002. ^[15]

Lerner also owns Hunter's Head Tavern in Upperville, Virginia and Gentle Harvest in Marshall, Virginia.^[16]

Artistic projects and philanthropy

In 1992, through the foundation she shares with Leonard Bosack, Lerner invested money into the restoration of the Chawton House, which was once owned by Jane Austen's brother, Edward Austen Knight. In 2003, it opened as the Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830. In 2016, Lerner resigned from the board of trustees and withdrew the financial support of her foundation.^[17]

In November 2011, Lerner published a sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice titled Second Impressions using the pen name of Ava Farmer (for "a Virginia farmer").^[18] In August 2017, Lerner released Caticons, a book of art imitating cats.^[19][20] Cat news website, The Purrington Post said that the book was a "Must have" for cat lovers.^[21]

Awards and recognition

Lerner was awarded an honorary degree in 2005 from Southampton University^[22] and a Doctor of Sciences in 2012 from California State University, Chico.^[23]

In 2009, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society honored Sandra Lerner and Leonard Bosack with its Computer Entrepreneur Award "for founding Cisco Systems and pioneering and advancing the commercialization of routing technology and the profound changes this technology enabled in the computer industry."^[24]

In 1998, Lerner was featured in part 2 of the PBS documentary Nerds 2.0.1.^[25] Lerner was also featured in the documentary film Something Ventured (2011).^[26]

In November 2014, Lerner was presented with the Pioneer Award for her work in the technology field by Women's Entrepreneurship Day.^[27]

In 2015, Lerner was presented with an honorary OBE by the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson, for her contributions to UK culture. The ceremony was held at the Chawton House.^[28]

References

1. Draquez, Amir (April 13, 2018). "Sandy Lerner". IEEE Computer Society. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
2. Nicholls, Walter (June 22, 2005). "Two Starts and a Stir". Washington Post. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
3. "Honorary Doctorates To Be Awarded to Cisco Systems Co-founder Sandy Lerner and Political Analyst and Campaign Manager Ed Rollins - CSU, Chico News - CSU, Chico". www.csuchico.edu. August 28, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
4. "Router man". Networkworld.com. March 27, 2006. Archived from the original on April 5, 2006. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
5. Pete Carey (January 12, 2001). "A start-up's true tale". Mercury News.
6. Guy Raz - How I Made This "Cisco Systems & Urban Decay: Sandy Lerner". NPR. Accessed October 15, 2018
7. Julie Bort. "Cisco Just Turned 30: This Is The Dramatic Story Of How The Founders Were Ousted". Business Insider. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
8. Savchuk, Katia. "Splitting Headaches: When Lovers-Turned-Cofounders Break Up". Forbes. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
9. Lerner, Michele (June 14, 2013). "Cisco co-founder says she's ready to say farewell to the farm". The Washington Post.
10. Bellafante, G. (June 23, 2005). "All That Glitters Is Not Silicon". The New York Times.
11. "Sandy Lerner Biography | Booking Info for Speaking Engagements". www.allamericanspeakers.com. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
12. Linden, Dana Wechsler (August 25, 1997). "Does pink make you puke?". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 21, 2011.
13. "Urban Decay history"
14. "World Business Briefing: Europe; Urban Decay for Lvmh". The New York Times. February 26, 2000. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
15. "LVMH 20-F". www.sec.gov. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
16. Pipkin, Whitney (October 30, 2016). "Cisco co-founder Sandy Lerner's next big idea: Redefining road food". The Washington Post.
17. Flood, Alison (July 20, 2017). "Jane Austen's Great House launches urgent appeal to stay open". the Guardian. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
18. Julian Guthrie, "Cisco founder pens sequel to 'Pride and Prejudice'", San Francisco Chronicle, May 30, 2012 . Retrieved January 26, 2013.
19. Caticons website - 2017 President's Award Winner
20. "'Caticon,' a show of art about cats at SFO - SFChronicle.com". www.sfchronicle.com. July 26, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
21. Catworld, December 2017, Issue 477 - Page 27 Caitcons
22. "Graduation 2005 - the biggest ever | University of Southampton". www.southampton.ac.uk. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
23. "Honorary Doctorates To Be Awarded to Cisco Systems Co-founder Sandy Lerner and Political Analyst and Campaign Manager Ed Rollins - CSU, Chico News - CSU, Chico". www.csuchico.edu. August 28, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
24. "Computer Society Connection". Computer Society Digital Library. 43 (3): 77–80. March 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
25. SISARIO, BEN (November 22, 1998). "SIGNOFF; For These Nerds, It's Beans to Billions". The New York Times.
26. Cieply, Michael (March 7, 2011). "'Something Ventured,' a Love Story About Capitalism". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
27. Wendy Diamond. "Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization Pioneer Awards 2014 Winners". WED. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
28. "Dr Sandy Lerner's OBE: A Special Day in Pictures ~ Chawton House". Chawton House. May 22, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2018.