Alan Trefler

Alan Trefler was born to a Jewish family in 1956 Trefler was raised in Brookline, Massachusetts owned and operated Trefler's, a restorer of art and furniture. This business is still family owned and operating as of 2021. Working at his family's store while young in 1973. Trefler went on to Dartmouth College, where he studied economics and computer science and remained active in chess. At the age of 19, in 1975 he tied for first place in the World Open Chess Championship in New York with grandmaster Pal Benko. Also at Dartmouth, he was the winner of the John G. Kemeny prize in computing. He graduated with a BS in 1977. ==Business career==

Software engineering Although he attained the level of chess master and considered going professional, later applying the same business techniques to teaching computers how to process business rules. Founder of Pegasystems He founded Pegasystems in April 1983, taking on the roles of CEO and chairman at the age of 27. on NASDAQ. Trefler remained clerk of Pegasystems Inc. until June 1999, and president until October 1999. In March 2010, Pegasystems acquired Chordiant for around $161.5 million, which gave Pegasystems access to new markets such as telecommunications and healthcare. The Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council named him their Public Company CEO of the Year in 2011. His Pegasystems salary was $751,526 in 2014. That year, Business Insider ranked him the eighth lowest paid CEO in the tech industry. In 2014 he authored and published Build for Change, a book focused on the management of customers and business processes. A Forbes contributor related that the book made "a convincing argument" that companies needed to prepare for changes in customer behavior, or face negative repercussions. Pegasystems had 3,000 employees, 30 offices, and "more than half a billion dollars in revenue" by early 2015. Trefler has been recognized by the Babson College Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs, Trefler made the Forbes Billionaire's List in March 2017. ==Chess career==

A master-level chess player Trefler competed in a charity chess tournament in 2010 alongside grandmasters such as Garry Kasparov and Boaz Weinstein. ==Philanthropy==

Trefler and his wife donated $1 million to Dorchester High School in Dorchester, Boston in 1995. They established The Trefler Foundation which seeks to improve urban public education in the Boston area. ==Personal life==

Trefler married his wife Pamela Reinhard in 1992, who at the time was working as an investment banker. The couple reside in Brookline, Massachusetts. ==Publishing history==