Ray Noorda (June 19, 1924 - October 9, 2006) was an American businessman and co-founder of Novell, Inc., a pioneering computer networking company. Under his leadership, Novell developed NetWare, which dominated the enterprise networking market during the 1980s and 1990s. Noorda was renowned for his unique management philosophy and commitment to philanthropy, earning recognition as one of America's most generous philanthropists. His vision transformed how businesses used computer networks, laying groundwork for modern enterprise computing.