Clarence Wooten
CCBC alumnus,
Architecture and Computer Design
Clarence Wooten, CCBC ’93, has been selected as one of five American Association of Community Colleges’ Outstanding Alumni of 2016. The award recognizes community college alumni for career achievements, philanthropic contributions and inspirational impact.
A self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Wooten was fascinated with video games at an early age. This fueled an interest in computers and sparked his curiosity about how software was made.
Wooten’s studies of architecture and computer design at CCBC provided the academic foundation and support he needed to start his first company, Envision Design. While Envision garnered little success, it laid the groundwork for other ventures to soar.
The sale of his first successful company, ImageCafe, for $23 million to Network Solutions/Verisign in 1999 propelled Wooten into the national spotlight as a tech-savvy businessperson.
“My motivation and drive helped to formulate my big ideas, but without CCBC to steer me in the right direction and give me the tools to succeed, my big ideas would never have become reality,” Wooten explained. “I have been blessed to have created companies that have helped society and others to achieve their own dreams. It’s all about having the tools, education and people to make things happen. And CCBC provided all of that and more for me.”
Wooten is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and an honorary alumnus of the University of Maryland. He also serves on the Board of Trustees at Philadelphia University, one of the nation's top design schools.
