Jimmy Wales

Jimmy Wales

Baird Lecture

Tuesday, April 7, 2020, 7 p.m.

Alumni Gym

Jimmy Wales is a leading technology futurist and the founder of Wikipedia, the fifth-most popular website worldwide, and WikiTribune, an ad-free global news platform. Named one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People,” Wales has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as one of the top 250 leaders around the world for his professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to shape the future.

In 2000, Wales founded Nupedia, a “free encyclopedia” characterized by an extensive peer-review process designed to produce high-quality articles comparable to professional encyclopedias. The addition of “wikis” — a collection of web pages that enable anyone to contribute or modify content — transformed the site into Wikipedia, with Wales providing the founding principles and content, and establishing an Internet-based community of contributors. Currently, the English Wikipedia includes more than 5.8 million articles, with 567 articles added each day. Wikipedia develops at a rate of 1.8 edits per second.

Wales is a fellow of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School and serves on the boards of Socialtext, a provider of wiki technology to businesses, and the nonprofit organization, Creative Commons.

Admission: $15 or Elon ID. Tickets available March 17 at the Center for the Arts Box Office. For ticket information, call (336) 278-5610.