Fritz Onion is a Maine-based philanthropist and angel investor with a focus on the environment, green technology and the arts.

Fritz received his B.A. from Harvard University, and was an ICS Ph.D. student from 1991-1995, studying parallelizing compiler technology with Distinguished Professor of Computer Science Alex Nicolau. He left UCI in 1995 with an M.S. to pursue a career in software consulting and teaching with DevelopMentor, a newly formed company co-founded by Don Box (M.S. ’91). Fritz has authored several books on ASP.NET, published over 30 articles in technical journals and has spoken at technology conferences around the world.

In 2004, Fritz co-founded Pluralsight, a classroom-based technology training business. By 2013, Pluralsight had transitioned into a high-growth online enterprise technology skills platform. The company went public in 2018 (NASDAQ: PS), and was then purchased and taken private again in 2021 by Vista Equity Partners.

In 2014, Fritz and his wife, Susan, created the Onion Foundation as a grant-making organization to provide people in Maine with meaningful connections to and experiences in the arts and the natural environment, and to sustain those resources for future generations. With offices based in Auburn, Maine, the foundation has made more than 1,400 grants to over 460 organizations in all 16 counties of Maine.

In 2018, Fritz and Susan helped launch Pluralsight One as the philanthropic arm of Pluralsight, with a mission of increasing access to technology skill development and promoting diversity in the technology workforce around the world.