John Manferdelli has worked as a senior researcher, software architect, product unit manager, general manager and most recently a distinguished engineer at Microsoft Corp. His contributions include the development of the next-generation secure computing base technologies and the rights management capabilities currently integrated into Windows, for which he was the original architect. He also has worked in Microsoft Research and in the SQL Server Group. He joined Microsoft in February 1995 when it acquired his company, Natural Language Inc. based in Berkeley. He is currently the general manager of incubation for Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie.

At Natural Language, Manferdelli was the founder and, at various times, vice president of R&D and CEO. Other positions he has held include staff engineer at TRW Inc., computer scientist and mathematician at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and principal investigator at Bell Labs. He was also an adjunct associate professor at Stevens Institute of Technology and is an affiliate faculty member at the University of Washington.

Manferdelli’s professional interests include cryptography and cryptographic mathematics, combinatorial mathematics, operating systems, and computer security.

Manferdelli has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley.