【OHI】Fadi Chehadé interview selection

Entered IT by chance

And teacher called me after the class, he said it was class of logic, and he think I am particularly good at subject. 
I say, thank you. 
Do you know what computers are? 
I said I don't know, I didn't know. I just came from Lebanon, I never seen one, 
So he says you should study computer science, 
What is this? 
He said Just go, you don't speak English, So the computer science is good. You can sit behind desk and program, 
I didn't know what he's talking about. 
From there I took interest in the subject.

Fadi Chehadé

Entered IT by chance

BZ: you were born in Lebanon, in what year you came to the United States?

FC: I came to the USA at the age of eighteen, 1980. Mostly to seek studies. It wasn't my first choice to come to America, because I didn't speak English. I was French-educated. But my parents wanted me to come to America, So I came here on my own, I learned English in what they called Community colleges, those are small colleges, and started taking classes. I took philosophy class.

And teacher called me after the class, he said it was class of logic, and he think I am particularly good at subject. I say, thank you. Do you know what computers are? I said I don't know, I didn't know. I just came from Lebanon, I never seen one, so he says you should study computer science, what is this? He said Just go, you don't speak English, So the computer science is good. You can sit behind desk and program, I didn't know what he's talking about. From there I took interest in the subject, I got a scholarship to go to New York, I got a degree on computer science, then I went to Bell Labs.

At that time, Bell labs was hall of science and knowledge. I started to understand how vast this field is, and how interesting it is. AT&T, at that time which was the parent of labs, offer me to go to any college in the world, fully paid, even my salary continues to pay. So I went to Stanford to study artificial intelligence and management. So I took a dual degree. In fact, when I finished, my professor told me that there will be no jobs for you, nobody wants you. But I said I like the subject, I like the concept, I learned it, but I couldn`t find a job in it. There was no job in that field, too early.

But I kept that in my heart my mind, as phenomenal ways for us use computer to enhance the quality of life. But I ended up being someone in networking and very early on I started working in field of communications and networking and I built my first company and sold successfully and then I build another company and IBM acquired it from me in 2006. And then I went back to Los Angeles started my third Software company and that's when ICANN approached me. So that's a little bit kind of my journey into this field.

“I’m very proud of my accomplishments at ICANN.”

BZ: He (Doctor Fang) likes to know on the very day of September 13, the transfer of the ICANN and authorities, September 30, so what's the day?

FC: So it's important to know that, before we got to that point, the community worked very hard to produce the proposal to the American government to end the American government control. That proposal was completed on March 12, 2016. On that day, I thanked the community, took the proposal, gave it to the American government. On that day at 5 PM. I resigned. I left ICANN. Because I had done what I promised to do, which is to get there. Now the US government took the proposal and spent a few months to consume it, to study it, to understand it, to respond to it. I was involved in the background and some questions and clarifications and I did my part. But in general, I was not at the helm of ICANN on purpose. Even though, I still had two years in my term.

But I decided that it's important that this accomplishment is not mine. Because it really is not mine. It's not fair for it to be mine, it's everybody's. I stepped out of the picture. So the community can own this independent, success to be, Success to be independent. And so on the 30th, I was with my family at home. And just celebrating that it happened calmly and quickly and the contract some set—(??) on that night.

BZ: Do you feel that's your highlights of your career or you have more coming at

FC: Well certainly today I do believe that my accomplishments at ICANN are a very big highlight of my career. I'm very proud of that. My favorite thing to do in the world is to build team. That's what I like to do most. These teams could be teams that will build great software. Or they could be teams that will achieve missions like this. Or they could be team at my church that is, you know, we have a team of young people that I have been managing that, buy goats for poor kids in upper Egypt, so they can raise goats and live from. That's also fun too. So it doesn't matter what it is. I think the greatest accomplishment as the French writer said, is to unite men, is to bring people together to do great things together. So any time that's done, it feels great I agree with you, I'm very lucky that I had that opportunity.

“integrity and transparency are the only way.”

BZ: So all these years, and do you think some people have a little bit misunderstanding about you or they always get you right.

FC: no no, of course not. You know I will tell you something that I have experienced. When I was young, I was taught during the war because I was a child of war in Beirut when I was 13, that sometimes you need to give from yourself unconditionally. Because you don't know if you`ll live to tomorrow. So if you have today, the most beautiful form of giving is to give unconditionally, is to give without asking for anything back. Because during the war it doesn't matter you may not be around to take anything back. So I was trained by, actually by spiritual leaders, to give unconditional and to enjoy that. So in general, when people, not just me, give unconditionally. In general, people don't buy that. They don`t seem, why would someone give unconditionally, what`s behind it. Why is he doing this? There has to be something. And so I think that this is where people obviously misunderstand you. They say, well, he must be doing this to gain something. All of us sometimes have ulterior goals I am not perfect, nobody is. But there were a lot of times in the last couple of years where, a few years where, I had to clarify that I'm really doing for the public benefit, for the universal benefit. I remember without naming names that I came back from meeting a leader of a country. And another country met me and they said what did you give them? How did they agree to this one? What did you put on the table? And I would say nothing. I told them the truth and I said this is important for the world. And people are incredulous about these things they believe there's always a quid pro quo I don't believe so.

BZ: Because you are pretty strong believer of the integrity and transparent.

FC: It`s the only way.