Curt Gridley, a native Kansan, graduated from Wichita State University in 1980 and went on to earn a master’s degree from Dartmouth in 1983.

Meanwhile, Tracy Hoover, who grew up in New Jersey, graduated from Wellesley College in 1985.

With careers in software engineering, they met at a Fortran Language Standards Conference in 1986 in New Mexico and married in 1992. Tracy continued to work as a software engineer in the Boston area until 1997.

After spending some time working in the software industry, Curt knew the focus would turn toward making hardware faster and less expensive. In 1994, he founded a venture-backed hardware startup, Amber Wave Systems, which he successfully sold to USRobotics in 1996.

In 2000, Curt and Tracy established The Gridley Family Foundation, for which they have served as the sole trustees. Since inception, the foundation has contributed $2 million to charitable causes, more than $1 million of which went to WSU. Since moving back to Wichita in 2005, Curt has been on the boards of the WSU Foundation, MakeICT and the Ulrich Museum, while Tracy has been treasurer for a national musical organization, treasurer for MakeICT and on the music faculty at WSU.

Curt and Tracy have two children, Henry and Fiona.

Since moving to downtown Wichita in 2016, Curt and Tracy have become more attuned to changes occurring in the center of Wichita. They learned of the nearby and vacant Printing Inc. building in a casual conversation with a neighbor and began considering a purchase. With their technology and investment background, experience founding tech startups, connection to the local creative community and work as trustees of a private foundation, Curt and Tracy are in a unique position to successfully complete this project.