Dartmouth grad donates money to help tech students

HANOVER, N.H. --A Dartmouth College graduate who started a successful computer software firm has donated $1 million to help students who want to become high-tech entrepreneurs.

Lewis Cirne endowed a scholarship using money from the sale of his business, Wily Technology. He also set up a fund to help Dartmouth undergraduates working as interns at technology start-ups, college officials said.

Cirne graduated from Dartmouth in 1993 and worked for Apple Computer for several years. In 1998, he founded Wily Techology in Santa Cruz, Calif., working with another Dartmouth graduate. David Strohm also is donating money to Dartmouth.

Last year, they sold the company to Computer Associates for $400 million. Cirne and Strohm said Wily Technology succeeded because of help from fellow alumni and they wanted to help Dartmouth compete with other schools like MIT and Stanford that spawn lots of high-tech companies.

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Information from: Concord Monitor, http://www.cmonitor.com