Ralph Brown, Watertown, is a Past Board Chair of Groton Hill Music Center. He presently serves as Board Chair for the Native Plant Trust, which helps conserve and promote New England’s native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes. After working as a Mainframe Operating System Engineer for International Computers Ltd. in England, Ralph founded Paxton Computers Ltd. and developed a popular accounting system for small businesses. While managing software projects for British Telecom he created Ships Fund Accounting for the Royal Navy. Lotus Development asked Ralph to build their first software development laboratory in Europe for UNIX versions of 1-2-3 and in 1993 he moved to the U.S. to develop Lotus Notes for IBM and HP. Following his passion for music he joined the Groton Hill board and began to understand the striking similarities between board leadership and software leadership. Ralph was delighted to serve as board chair and also continue to lead cutting edge software development, including predictive analytics for United Health and consulting about business strategy related to the Internet of Things. After retiring from the software world Ralph remains committed to non-profit leadership and is excited to be part of the organization’s future.
