Bob Fish, Board Member Emeritus
Robert Fish graduated from high school in Orlando, FL in 1966 and attended the University of Virginia on a Naval ROTC scholarship. After college, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. The majority of his service time was spent in Okinawa as a shift supervisor for the USMC Western Pacific data center, managing IBM computer systems that supplied the Vietnam war effort. After being honorably discharged in 1971, he remained in the information technology field in the SF Bay area, holding increasingly important positions at Blue Cross, Safeway Stores, Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America, where he was VP of Strategic Network Planning.
In 1984, he joined his first Silicon Valley startup company, Network Equipment Technologies (NET). In 1985, Bob was the program manager for the modernization of the White House communications system (during the Reagan era). Bob received an NSC award for installing a more robust hotline between the White House and the Kremlin. Following the Challenger space shuttle disaster, he also became involved with the DoD and worked on several strategic national intelligence programs. Bob received a USAF commendation for his activities in the Desert Storm/Shield Gulf war.
He went on to found several innovative cyber-security companies, including Wheelgroup and Cloudshield, both of which received national recognition for innovation. Wheelgroup was acquired by Cisco in 1998 and Cloudshield was acquired by SAIC in 2009.
In 2000, Bob joined the Board of Directors of the USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum. He researched the Navy’s role in the recovery of the 1960’s NASA manned space-flights. He is a recognized national authority on the subject, having written numerous articles as well as participating in the Smithsonian NASM GE Aviation lecture series. He also created the original award-winning Apollo 11 spacecraft recovery exhibit and published a highly acclaimed book about the recovery of Apollo 11 called Hornet Plus Three.
In 2019, Bob was elected Board Member Emeritus of the museum. Bob has lived in the Bay Area for over 55 years, is married and has one son.
