Greg Whitten is a former Microsoft Chief software architect where he worked from 1979 to 1998. Whitten graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in mathematics and from Harvard University with a Ph.D. in applied mathematics. At Microsoft, he developed the standards for the company's BASIC compiler line. Since 2003, he has been CEO of Numerix. He is also a vintage car enthusiast. "GW" in the name of the GW-BASIC dialect of BASIC developed by Microsoft may have come form Greg Whitten's initials: