Jon Kern, a co-author of the Agile Manifesto, is an aerospace engineer turned software architect, and is credited with such industry slogans as:

• Agile (from his work with agile fighter maneuverability and the prompting by Alistair Cockburn that he didn't want us agilists to be known as lightweight - anything ;-))
• Technical Debt] (allowing software to rust -- although I see Ward Cunningham claims that phrase, which leads me to wonder if I heard it from him or if we both came up with it...)
• And a "Fool with a Tool is Still a Fool" (I am quite sure no one will want this phrase as their own <g>)

Kern was also a founding member of the Agile Alliance and served as an inaugural Board Member. He maintains a blog and wiki.

Jon lives in Eastern Pennsylvania, USA.

• Cruise Missile engine R&D (1981-1986)
• DOD engineering consulting (flight simulation...) (1986-1995)
• Formed Lightship, Inc. (1995-1999)
• TogetherSoft with Peter Coad (1999 - 2003)
• OptimalJ Team with Compuware (2003-2006)
• Immuexa Consulting (2006 - present)
• Synergy Insurance Consulting (eons)
• Fire Planning Associates and Blazemark (2008)

• Coad, Peter (December 1998). Java Design (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall PTR. ISBN 978-0139111815. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Coad, Peter (June 1999). Java Modeling in Color with UML. Prentice Hall PTR. ISBN 978-0130115102. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Kern, Steven (August 1997). Lotus Notes and Domino 4.5 Developer's Guide. SAMS Publishing. ISBN 978-0672310799. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Kern, Steven (November 1999). Lotus Notes R5 Unleashed. SAMS Publishing. ISBN 978-0672314148. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

• US Patent 6,938,240 "Methods and systems for improving a workflow based on data mined from plans created from the workflow."

• Agile Manifesto
• Technical Debt blog
• Agile Alliance