George Grayson

Software industry pioneer, George Grayson, founded istation in 1998 to fulfill a dream and vision. Since the mid-eighties, he believed that computers should be used to teach children fundamental skills such as reading and math. He believed properly designed computer software could fundamentally improve education and that a technology company would soon step forward to address the problem. Surprisingly, none did. Mr. Grayson’s solution is The Imagination Station®, an Internet-based interactive education network that features an integrated reading instruction and intervention program that continually teaches and assesses students’ progress learning to read.

In 2005, istation was presented the Deloitte/Titan Fast 50 Winner and named the number one fastest growing technology company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, based on percentage revenue growth over one year. Also in 2005, istation received a Tech Titans finalist award for Emerging Company Horizon.

In 1993, Mr. Grayson founded 7th Level, a consumer-oriented computer software company with an emphasis on multimedia development tools, edutainment and comedic games. His goal was to combine technology development with Hollywood artistry and production skills to improve the quality of multimedia products. 7th Level received wide acclaim and hundreds of awards for products as diverse as TuneLand, The Great Word Adventure, The Great Reading Adventure, The Great Math Adventure, The Universe According to Virgil Reality, Monty Python’s Complete Waste of Time and Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. 7th Level went public in 1994.

George Grayson co-founded Micrografx in 1982 and served as its President and COO through 1992. He was responsible for the company’s strategy and operations. As an industry pioneer, Mr. Grayson co-developed the first vector-based drawing system for the IBM PC, PC-Draw, in the early eighties. He also directed the development team that created the first application for the Microsoft Windows® environment, InaVision, and assisted with the completion of Windows 1.0. Under Mr. Grayson’s direction, Micrografx worked with Microsoft® and IBM® beginning in 1987 to develop portions of OS/2® including its 32-bit graphics engine, Windows API and device driver model and participated in the completion of the operating system kernel. Micrografx’ flagship products, Designer, Windows Draw, Picture Publisher and ABC Flowcharter, consistently won top industry awards. Micrografx went public in 1990.

Mr. Grayson is a long-time advocate for using technology to better the lives of children. As early as October of 1991, Micrografx founded The COMDEX Micrografx Chili for Children Cookoff. This event was the computer industry’s largest annual fundraiser benefiting the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

Mr. Grayson is a Board Member and former Co-Chairman of the Education Committee of the Dallas Metroplex Technology Business Council. He serves on the CEO Board of Advisors for NCMEC and Board of Advisors for the Children’s Education Fund. In 2005, the Metroplex Technology Business Council honored him with the Tech Titans’ award for Emerging Company CEO, the area’s most prestigious award for excellence in technology. This is an honor for which he was a finalist the previous year. In 1998, Mr. Grayson received a Rainbow Award from The Adam Walsh Children’s Fund for his work with NCMEC. First in 1992 and again in 1996, he received Texas High Technology Entrepreneur of the Year awards. In 1991, Mr. Grayson was selected by the Dallas Business Journal as one of the Dallas areas 40 top executives under 40. In the same year, he established The George Grayson Foundation whose mission is to help at-risk children.