C. Edward McVaney (December 29, 1940 – June 4, 2020) was an American entrepreneur and technology executive. In 1977, he was a co-founder and became the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

JD Edwards J.D. Edwards World Solution Company or JD Edwards, abbreviated JDE, was an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software company, whose namesake ERP system is still sold under ownership by Oracle Corporation. JDE's products included ''World'' for ...

Corporation, an

enterprise resource planning Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software—typically a suit ...

company. Ed served in the Coalition Provisional Authority, Baghdad Iraq. US Department of Defense starting in Nov 9th 2003 in the Ministry of Transportation and later ministry of Interior. In June 2003, JD Edwards arranged to be purchased by PeopleSoft for $1.8 billion. Oracle, within days, launched a hostile takeover bid for PeopleSoft with intent to exclude JD Edwards. PeopleSoft went ahead with the purchase of JD Edwards anyway, and in 2005, Oracle finally acquired the combined JD Edwards-PeopleSoft organization, bringing the JD Edwards WorldSoftware and EnterpriseOne product lines into the product portfolio of

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...

. In 2016 McVaney became founder and chairman of the board at Nextworld.

Early life

McVaney was born in Omaha, Nebraska, December 29, 1940. As his father was off to war as a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

, according to a 2002 interview, McVaney had very little memory of him until he came home at the end of the War. His father had graduated from Creighton University and while he served largely behind lines in the Army Air Corps, he came home from Europe with indications of

post-traumatic stress syndrome Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...

and was haunted by nightmares and terrified by loud noises for many years after his return. McVaney recalls the day his father showed up saying that of him that he appeared to be "the biggest, tallest man in the whole world. I was just a little squirt". McVaney's siblings included three brothers, John, Richard, and Tim. His mother Mary McVaney, was a housewife and as a child, the family lived, as he describes it, "in a very frugal, frugal way" in their home on 38th Street in Omaha, Nebraska.

Education

McVaney attended a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

elementary prep school, and graduated high school, Creighton Prep School, in 1959. He then went to Iowa State Teacher's College (now the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across five colleges. The fall 2024 total enrollment was 9,283 students. The university was initially founded in 1 ...

) on a football scholarship. He was on the dean's list and graduated with honors in 1964 with a BS in mechanical engineering. Discovered making "free calls" with little wire device to his girlfriend, Carole, in Lincoln, Nebraska, McVaney lost his football scholarship and left Iowa State Teacher's College. He returned to Creighton Prep School for a semester-and-a-half, and then attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. McVaney married Carole in 1963. For post-graduate training, McVaney attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. McVaney and his wife lived in

Cedar Grove, New Jersey Cedar Grove is a township in north central Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 12,980, an increase of 569 (+4.6%) from the 2010 census count of 12,411, which in tu ...

Career

Upon his graduation from Rutgers, McVaney was hired by

Western Electric Western Electric Co., Inc. was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that operated from 1869 to 1996. A subsidiary of the AT&T Corporation for most of its lifespan, Western Electric was the primary manufacturer, supplier, ...

as an operations research engineer. McVaney was transferred by Peat Marwick from New York City to Denver, Colorado in 1968. He continued with Marwick until 1970 when he took a position with Alexander Grant, now

Grant Thornton LLP Grant Thornton LLP is the American member firm of Grant Thornton International, the seventh largest accounting network in the world by combined fee income. Grant Thornton LLP is the seventh largest U.S. accounting and advisory organization. The ...

. Along with co-workers, Dan Gregory and Jack Thompson, McVaney founded

in 1977. In 2016, McVaney founded Nextworld, an

platform, in Denver, Colorado.

Family life

Mr. McVaney was married for 57 years to his wife Carole, having met in high school and married in 1963. They had three children, as well as nine grandchildren.

Philanthropy

In May 1998, McVaney donated more than $32 million to the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

to establish the JD Edwards Honors Program (now the Jeffrey S. Raikes School). This program is charged with educating the next generation of business professionals by combining

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

education with

business management Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

skills.

References

External links

Transcript of a Computerworld Honors Program oral history video interview with Ed McVaney by Daniel S. Morrow at his home, the McVaney Ranch, in Colorado, 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:McVaney, C. Edward Businesspeople in software American technology chief executives American computer businesspeople American philanthropists University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni American billionaires People from Cedar Grove, New Jersey Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska 1940 births 2020 deaths Rutgers University alumni Businesspeople from Essex County, New Jersey