This episode of A Williams Life will take us on a journey from the banks of the Mississippi, to Williamstown, to the bond trading world of Wall Street, and finally to the dazzling universe of artificial intelligence. Our guide will be Jon Myers, a self-taught inventor and entrepreneur, who has spent many years founding and investing in technology companies designed to, in his words, “make the world a better place.” In recent years, Jon has devoted a great deal of time and energy focusing on ways to optimize artificial intelligence while mindful of the challenges, even dangers, it poses to humankind. Prior to joining the ranks of tech entrepreneurs, he spent 15 years on Wall Street immersed in the culture that Michael Lewis described so memorably in his 1989 book, Liars Poker.

📍 00:00 – Introduction
📍 01:00 – Growing Up in Small-Town America
📍 06:30 – Williams College: A Culture Shock
📍 14:00 – The Wild Days of Wall Street
📍 19:30 – A Life-Changing Medical Crisis
📍 27:00 – Reinventing Himself as a Tech Entrepreneur
📍 35:00 – Dickinson Corp: The Nanotech Revolution
📍 38:00 – Artificial Intelligence
📍 50:00 – Silicon Valley's Rightward Shift?
📍 56:00 – Final Thoughts: Innovation & Uncertainty

Recorded at CDM Studios in New York City in January 2025.

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Producer: Jon Earle ('09)
Web designer: Kathy Bogan ('75)