Sandy Lerner, (born 1955) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She co-founded

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

, and used the money from its sale to pursue interests in

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevit ...

and women's writing. One of her main projects,

Chawton House Chawton House is a Grade II* listed Elizabethan manor house in Hampshire. It is run as a historic property and also houses the research library of The Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830, using the building's connectio ...

, is in England, but most of her work remains in the United States.

Early life and education

Lerner is a

northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

native. She received her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

in 1975 in international relations from

California State University, Chico California State University, Chico, or commonly, Chico State, is a public university in Chico, California. Founded in 1887, it is the second oldest campus in the California State University system. As of the fall 2020 semester, the university h ...

, a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

econometrics Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. ...

in 1977 from the

Claremont Graduate School The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate ( Pomona College, Claremont McKenna C ...

, and a master's degree in statistics and computer science in 1981 from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

Cisco

In 1984, while working as director of computer facilities for the

Stanford University Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford GSB) is the graduate business school of Stanford University, a private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective business sc ...

, Lerner co-founded

with her then-partner and now-former husband

Len Bosack Leonard X. Bosack (born 1952) is a co-founder of Cisco Systems, an American-based multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking and communications technology, and services. His net worth is approximately $200 mi ...

. Lerner and Bosack worked with Stanford students and faculty on a project to better connect all of the school's computer systems. They later adapted software used at Stanford into what would become the foundation for

Cisco IOS The Internetworking Operating System (IOS) is a family of proprietary network operating systems used on several router and network switch models manufactured by Cisco Systems. The system is a package of routing, switching, internetworking, and ...

. Lerner told the story of Cisco's startup on the podcast

How I Built This ''How I Built This'' is an American podcast about "innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built" produced by NPR. History ''How I Built This'' began on September 12, 2016, as a podcast where the host, ...

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 A communication protocol is a system of rules that allows two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information via any kind of variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax, semantics and synchron ...

being

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

, developed largely from collaborative work at Stanford, Cisco was still able to produce products people wanted to buy. Lerner and Bosack brought in John Morgridge to be the third CEO of Cisco in 1988. On August 28, 1990, Lerner was fired; upon hearing the news, Bosack resigned in solidarity. The two sold all of their stock for $170 million and retired from Cisco. Lerner and Bosack divorced in the early 1990s.

Other business projects

In 1996, Lerner purchased Ayrshire Farm, an estate in Upperville Virginia. The circa-1912, 42-room Edwardian mansion of native

fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

has since been restored and was used for a variety of social functions under Lerner's direction. 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. Lerner placed a portion of her stock earnings into a start-up

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which h ...

limited partnership A limited partnership (LP) is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership except that while a general partnership must have at least two general partners (GPs), a limited partnership must have at least one GP and at least one limited ...

called "& Capital Partners." One of the companies it funded was

Urban Decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

Cosmetics, with the tag line "does pink make you puke?" In February 2000,

Moet-Hennessy LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...

(

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

), the French

luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good (economics), good for which demand (economics), demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spend ...

conglomerate, acquired the firm. It was spun off from LVMH in December 2002. Lerner also owns Hunter's Head Tavern in Upperville, Virginia and Gentle Harvest in Marshall, Virginia.

Artistic projects and philanthropy

In 1992, through the foundation she shares with Leonard Bosack, Lerner invested money into the restoration of the

, which was once owned by

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

'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. In November 2011, Lerner published a sequel to

's ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'' titled ''Second Impressions'' using the pen name of Ava Farmer (for "a Virginia farmer"). In August 2017, Lerner released ''Caticons'', a book of art imitating cats. Cat news website, ''

The Purrington Post Images and videos of domestic cats make up some of the most viewed content on the World Wide Web, particularly image macros in the form of lolcats. ThoughtCatalog has described cats as the "unofficial mascot of the Internet". The subject has ...

'' said that the book was a "Must have" for cat lovers.

Awards and recognition

Lerner was awarded an honorary degree in 2005 from

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

and a Doctor of Sciences in 2012 from

. In 2009, the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

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." In 1998, Lerner was featured in part 2 of the PBS documentary ''

Nerds 2.0.1 ''Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet'' – also known as ''Glory of the Geeks'' – is a 1998 American PBS television documentary that explores the development of the ARPANET, the Internet, and the World Wide Web from 1969 to 1998. It w ...

''. Lerner was also featured in the documentary film ''

Something Ventured "Something Ventured" is a 2011 documentary film investigating the emergence of American venture capitalism in the mid-20th century. ''Something Venture''d follows the stories of the venture capitalists who worked with entrepreneurs to start and ...

'' (2011). In November 2014, Lerner was presented with the Pioneer Award for her work in the technology field by Women's Entrepreneurship Day. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerner, Sandy (founder of cisco system) California State University, Chico alumni Living people People from Upperville, Virginia Cisco people 1955 births Women Internet pioneers American technology company founders Claremont Graduate University alumni Stanford University alumni Stanford University staff American women company founders American women computer scientists American computer scientists Honorary Officers of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century American women