Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers may not have finished his undergraduate degree at Duke, but he will return in May to deliver the commencement address for the Class of 2011.
President Richard Brodhead told a group of student leaders Friday that Chambers—who attended Duke's School of Engineering from 1967 to 1968 but finished his degree at West Virginia has accepted the University's invitation to deliver the commencement address. Brodhead noted Chambers' business experience, philanthropy and connection to Duke make him an excellent selection.
"He really is a great public speaker," Brodhead said Friday, noting that Chambers was a panelist at the celebration of the opening of the Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences in Fall 2004 and a speaker at the second regional summit on the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges in March 2010.
Chambers heads Cisco Systems, a multinational corporation based in Silicon Valley that designs and sells consumer electronics as well as networking and communications technology and services.
He has received several awards for his corporate philanthropy, including the Clinton Global Citizen Award in 2007 and the U.S. State Department's top corporate social responsibility award from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Check The Chronicle next week for more news about commencement.
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