His father, Joe (Joseph) Roizen, was born in Chisinau. He graduated from Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California in 1963 and from the University of California, Berkeley in 1967 with a degree in mathematics. He was employed as a software developer for the World Health Organization ni Geneva, Switzerland; he later moved to Washington DC and worked for the World Bank. It was his work with the World Bank that led him to invent a "Table Maker" software program that would allow formulae to be abstracted from data, therefore allowing the table's formulae to be re-used with different data sets without the need for a new program. Coincident with theadvent of earlypersonalcomputer platforms such as Vector Graphic and Northstar, which utilized the CP/M operating system, Roizen was able to develop his "Table Maker" softwareforindividual use on personal computers. Not only washis software one of the earliest spreadsheet programs, it can also claim title to the earliest 'integrated application' as the program was also acapable word processor and early database system. Roizen renamed it T/Maker and sold the first version through software distributorLifeboat Associates of New York. In 1983 he co-founded T/Maker Company (with his sister Heidi Roizen) to take over sales and distribution ofT/Maker and other software products.