Bruce Wayne Bastian (March 23, 1948 – June 16, 2024) was an American computer programmer, businessperson, and philanthropist. He co-founded

WordPerfect WordPerfect (WP) is a word processing application, now owned by Alludo, with a long history on multiple personal computer platforms. At the height of its popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the market leader of word processors, disp ...

(originally known as Satellite Software International) with Alan Ashton in 1978.

Early life and education

Bastian was born on March 23, 1948, in

Twin Falls, Idaho Twin Falls is the county seat of and the largest city in Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The city had a population of 51,807 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.

. He was raised as a member of

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, and he was a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

in Italy. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Master's degree in Computer Science from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU) in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

. As an undergraduate, he served as the director of the BYU Cougar Marching Band and developed a software program to help choreograph marching band performances together with Alan Ashton.

Career

Bastian began working for the Eyring Research Institute (ERI) at BYU, and he was soon joined by Ashton to work on a word processor for the city of

Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Utah, Provo, Lindon, Utah, Lindon, and Vineyard, Utah, Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the pri ...

. The two worked on a

Data General Data General Corporation was an early minicomputer firm formed in 1968. Three of the four founders were former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Their first product, 1969's Data General Nova, was a 16-bit minicomputer intended to ...

computer. Their collaborative work later became the company known as WordPerfect, founded in 1979. In 1982, they released WordPerfect 2.2 for the

IBM Personal Computer The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a ...

. Bastian was the chairman of the board until 1994.

Philanthropy

Bastian established the B.W. Bastian Foundation in 1997. A philanthropist, Bastian supported the LGBT community and the performing arts in Utah. He was a donor to Encircle, the Utah Pride Center, and Equality Utah, whose executive director noted, "No individual has had a greater impact on the lives of LGBTQ Utahns." In 2003, he donated more than $1million to the Human Rights Campaign. He served on their board for the next 22 years. Bastian also provided financial assistance to the Plan-B Theatre Company, the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera, and Ballet West. At the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, he donated $1.7million for the renovation of Kingsbury Hall in 1997 and $1.3million for the purchase of 55 Steinway pianos in 2000. He also supported the LGBT Resource Center on campus. In 2010, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

appointed Bastian to the Presidential Advisory Committee of the Arts in honor of Bastian's long-term commitment to the arts.

Personal life and death

Bastian married Melanie Laycock in 1976, and they had four sons; they divorced in 1993. He later married Clint Ford. They resided in Orem, Utah and

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

. Bastian died from lung disease on June 16, 2024, at the age of 76.

References

External links

B.W. Bastian FoundationPhilanthropist and WordPerfect Co-Founder Bruce Bastian
Interview on Mormon Stories {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastian, Bruce 1948 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Mormon missionaries American computer scientists American Mormon missionaries in Italy Brigham Young University alumni Engineers from Idaho Former Latter Day Saints American LGBTQ businesspeople LGBTQ Latter Day Saints LGBTQ people from Idaho People from Orem, Utah People from Twin Falls, Idaho 21st-century American LGBTQ people