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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 6, 2002

Contact: Diane Richards
Marketing and Communications Officer
(650) 960-4513
Email: [log in to unmask]


TECHNOLOGY LEADERS JOIN SETI INSTITUTE BOARD

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SETI Institute announces the addition of four high-tech
leaders to its Board of Trustees: Lewis Platt, former Hewlett Packard
Chairman and CEO; Linda Bernardi, founder and CEO of ConnecTerra, Inc.; Joel
Birnbaum former HP Senior Vice President of Research and Director of HP Labs;
and Alan Bagley, former HP executive.

"Every one of these people has made, or is making, a major difference in
technology," said Thomas Pierson, SETI Institute CEO, "This Board expansion
represents the next phase of strategic growth for the Institute. Each new
member brings to our Board the kind of visionary leadership that has
characterized our science team and led to bold initiatives like the Allen
Telescope Array."

Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is the international leader in research
and education relevant to the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the
universe, including the possibility of intelligent life. The Institute is
home to more than 40 research projects, including Project Phoenix, which
currently uses the large radiotelescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico to conduct
the world's most comprehensive search for the possible radio signature of
distant civilizations.

Future SETI Institute projects include the Allen Telescope Array, being
developed in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley.
Projected for completion in 2005, this innovative 10,000 square meter array
of 20-foot antennae will conduct both full time SETI research and other radio
astronomy projects. The current development phase of the Allen Telescope
Array is privately funded by a combined $12.5 million gift from
philanthropists Paul Allen and Nathan Myhrvold. This is the largest donation
ever directed to a SETI project.

The appointment of three former Hewlett Packard executives reflects a long
and close relationship with that company starting with the involvement of the
late Bernard Oliver, former HP Vice President and Lab Director. In the early
1970s, Oliver took a short sabbatical from HP to lead a NASA study team that
produced Project Cyclops, a comprehensive study that would become the
foundation for modern SETI research. Oliver would later join the SETI
Institute Board of Trustees and serve as senior technical advisor. In 1993,
when Congressional funding for SETI research was eliminated, Oliver and other
SETI leaders secured financial assistance from computer pioneers William
Hewlett, David Packard, Gordon Moore and Paul Allen, thus enabling Project
Phoenix to proceed. Today the SETI Institute/HP association continues through
the Board appointments of HP alumni who share Oliver's interest in the
scientific search for life beyond Earth.

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For complete article, see:

-- http://seti.org/general/press_release/board_05_07_02.html

Wirt Atmar

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