Brian Job

Brian Job, an engineering graduate from Stanford who also swam for the Santa Clara SC, won 16 AAU titles. His AAU Outdoor titles came in the 100 breast in 1970, the 200 breast in 1968, 1970, and 1972; the medley relay in 1968 and 1970, while indoors he won AAU crowns in the 100 breast in 1969-72, the 200 breast in 1968-72, and the medley relay in 1970. He was NCAA Champion for Stanford in the 100 breaststroke in 1970-71, and the 200 breaststroke in 1970-72.

In addition to his 1968 Olympic bronze medal, he also swam in the 200 m breaststroke at the 1972 Olympics, but was eliminated in the heats, despite being one of the pre-race favorites. At the 1971 Pan American Games he won gold in the 4×100 metre medley (with John Murphy, Jerry Heidenreich, and the non-Olympian Frank Heckl), silver in the 100 metres breaststroke, and bronze in the 200 metres breaststroke. Job set one individual world record, that a 2:23.5 in the 200 breast done in Los Angeles on 22 August 1980, and set four individual long-course American records, two at 100 breast and two at 200 breast.

After college graduation, Job earned an MBA from Harvard (’77). But he then entered the nascent world of personal computers, working with several start-ups, including as CEO of Via Video from 1981-84. From 1984-87 he was founder, chairman, and CEO of Networked Picture Systems. He then went into private consulting, both in the computer industry and in engineering, working through the mid-1990s, but his life then took a downward turn. His family believed that he was suffering from bipolar disorder and assorted addictions, and he lost his home to foreclosure, and ended up homeless, living on the streets in or near Palo Alto, usually on El Camino Real. He was arrested multiple times for vagrancy, disturbing the peace, and petty crimes. Job was eventually found dead in his room in a small hotel, the Glass Slipper Inn, where he had been living.