19
April
2022
|
14:30 PM
America/New_York

Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger will deliver spring 2022 commencement address

UMBC President Hrabowski, Sen. Portman, statistician Wahba will also provide remarks

Intel CEO Patrick P. Gelsinger will deliver the commencement address at The Ohio State University’s spring 2022 ceremony.

Ohio State expects to issue more than 12,000 degrees and certificates to graduates on May 8 in Ohio Stadium. In addition to Gelsinger’s address, remarks will be provided by Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III, Sen. Robert J. Portman and Dr. Grace Wahba.

A visionary engineer and leader, Gelsinger has spent more than four decades at the forefront of a technological revolution that has shaped the modern world. He currently leads Intel, a multinational corporation he first joined at age 18. Gelsinger was named the company’s chief executive officer in 2021.

Earlier this year, Intel shared plans to invest more than $20 billion in the construction of two new leading-edge chip factories in Ohio — the largest single private section investment in state history — and an additional $100 million toward partnerships with educational institutions such as Ohio State to develop talent and bolster research programs in the region.

“Pat Gelsinger’s groundbreaking work has, quite literally, changed the way we live. Over the past four decades, he has played a key role in ushering in technological advancements – from microprocessors to WiFi – that are the hallmarks of the modern digital age. And he isn’t close to done yet,” said President Kristina M. Johnson. “His determination and fortitude, coupled with a magnanimous philanthropic spirit, have changed countless lives for the better. I look forward to the words of wisdom Mr. Gelsinger – and all our honorary degree recipients – will share with our graduates on this monumental day.”

Before rejoining Intel in 2021, Gelsinger was CEO of VMware, a global leader in cloud infrastructure, enterprise mobility and cyber security. In 2019, Gelsinger was ranked the best CEO in America, according to an annual survey by Glassdoor.

Gelsinger began his career in 1979 at Intel, becoming its first chief technology officer, and also serving as senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group. He managed the creation of key industry technologies such as USB and WiFi, and played key roles in the development of the Intel Core and Intel Xeon processor families.

He earned several degrees in electrical engineering: an associate degree from Lincoln Technical Institute, a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and a master’s degree from Stanford University.

Johnson will preside over the ceremony and will award honorary degrees to Gelsinger and the other guest speakers. Gelsinger will be honored with a Doctor of Engineering.

Hrabowski will be honored with a Doctor of Education. He has served as president of University of Maryland, Baltimore County since 1992. For 30 years, Hrabowski has led UMBC to be recognized as a model for inclusive excellence and as a national leader in academic innovation and undergraduate teaching by such publications as U.S. News and World Report. He announced his intention to retire from UMBC at the end of the academic year.

Portman has represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate since 2010. He will be honored with a Doctor of Public Service. Portman has served in Congress, as U.S. trade representative and director of the Office of Management and Budget. During his Senate tenure, he introduced more than 240 bills, including 200 bipartisan bills, and more than 150 of his legislative priorities have been signed into law.

Now retired, Wahba was the I. J. Schoenberg-Hilldale Professor of Statistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her work centers on the extraction of information from large data sets, particularly in the medical field. Wahba has been elected to both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academy of Sciences. She has supervised the theses of graduate students from four continents. She will be awarded a Doctor of Science.

Ohio State will present the Distinguished Service Award to Caroline C. Whitacre and Robert L. Wright Jr. during the ceremony. Whitacre most recently served as the university’s senior vice president for research. She was associate vice president for health sciences research and vice dean for research in the College of Medicine, and director of the School of Biomedical Science. Whitacre received her B.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Ohio State.

An optometrist and 1960 graduate of the College of Optometry, Wright spent 20 years in private practice in his home of Columbus, Georgia. He was elected as a city council member and served as associate administrator for Minority Small Business under President Ronald Reagan. In later years, he created several consulting firms, eventually growing the second one, Dimensions International, into a multimillion-dollar company. 

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