# Christopher Seiwald

> Christopher Seiwald created the Perforce version control system and founded Perforce Software in Alameda in 1995, leading the company until its 2016 sale to Summit Partners. He now chairs Radium Arts, supports arts and engineering education, invests in startups, and owns Moxie Steak House in Alameda.

- **Role:** Founder and Board President at Radium Arts
- **Organizations:** Perforce Software (founder; former CEO and CTO), Radium Arts / Radium Presents (founder and board president), University of San Francisco (trustee), Moxie Steak House (owner), Ingres (former employer)
- **Education:** Computer science graduate; exact degree designation unconfirmed, University of California, Berkeley, St. Ignatius College Preparatory
- **Known for:** Created the Perforce version control system., Developed Jam, a cross-platform build system., Led Perforce for 21 years before its 2016 sale.

## Career timeline

- **1993** — Jam build-system documentation records its first release in November.
- **1994** — Presented Jam as an Ingres employee in the USENIX record.
- **1995** — Founded Perforce Software in Alameda.
- **2007** — Coauthored Code in Motion with Laura Wingerd for Beautiful Code.
- **2011** — Discussed Perforce Chronicle, an open source CMS with a proprietary version-control backend.
- **2016** — Sold Perforce to Summit Partners; Janet Dryer became CEO.
- **2017** — Founded the initiative now known as Radium Arts.
- **2021** — Joined the University of San Francisco Board of Trustees on June 8.
- **2022** — Pledged $1 million to USF for engineering and arts education.
- **2024** — Moxie Steak House opened in August, with Seiwald as owner and Donna Meadows as chef.
- **2026** — Alameda advanced agreements for the proposed Radium performing arts center.

## Achievements

- Created the Perforce version control system.
- Developed Jam, a cross-platform build system.
- Led Perforce for 21 years before its 2016 sale.
- Coauthored a chapter in Beautiful Code.
- Pledged $1 million to USF for engineering scholarships and arts innovation in 2022.
- Founded Radium and continues to lead its board.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — City Council advanced the Radium performing arts center real estate agreements; the project remained subject to fundraising and other conditions.
- **2026-06** — Shared a LinkedIn post showing an old Perforce server executable still running on macOS Monterey.
- **2026-10** — The current Radium Arts leadership page lists Seiwald as founder and board president and Jonathan Moscone as artistic director; this is a verification date, not an appointment date.

## Links

- Website: https://seiwald.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-seiwald

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/christopher-seiwald
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-11