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Internet Pioneer Bob Metcalfe Giving Commencement Speech at Rose-Hulman Institute of TechnologyTERRE HAUTE, Ind., May 24, 2010 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- Internet Pioneer Bob Metcalfe will be recognized for his career achievements in innovation and technology by receiving a honorary degree in engineering and presenting the commencement speech during Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's 132nd commencement on Saturday, May 29. Rose-Hulman President Matt Branam will confer degrees to 396 graduates, the college's largest graduating class in history during a ceremony starting at 11 a.m. in the field house area of the Sports and Recreation Center. Metcalfe was honored with the National Medal of Technology, at a 2005 White House ceremony, for his "leadership in the invention, standardization and commercialization of Ethernet." He also has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the Computer History Museum Hall of Fame; elected to the National Academy of Engineering and American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and received the Marconi Prize, the Hopper Award from the Association for Computing Machinery, the Bell Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the IEEE's Medal of Honor. As an engineer-scientist (1965-1979), Metcalfe helped pioneer the Internet. In 1973, at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, he invented Ethernet, the local-area networking (LAN) standard -- Internet plumbing -- on which he shares four patents. Working as an entrepreneur-executive (1979-1990), Metcalfe founded and grew 3Com Corporation, a billion-dollar networking company where at various times he was chairman, chief executive officer, division general manager, and vice president of engineering, sales and marketing. In 2009, 3Com merged into Hewlett-Packard Company. From 1992-1995, Metcalfe served as chief executive officer of International Data Group's InfoWorld Publishing Company. Also, for eight years, he shared his opinions about the Internet in a syndicated InfoWorld column read weekly by more than half a million information technologists. He is a regular speaker at conferences, on radio and television, hosted his own weekly webcast, and produced events. Boards that benefit from Metcalfe's expertise and leadership include Polaris-backed start-ups, including 1366, Ember, Infinite Power Solutions, SiOnyx and Sun Catalytix. He is also a director-trustee-advisor to Avistar Communications, University of Southern California's Stevens Institute for Innovation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and MIT's energy initiative, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Chemistry, Dean of Engineering and Dean of Science. Metcalfe graduated from MIT in 1969 with bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and industrial management. He received a master's degree in applied mathematics from Harvard University in 1970. In 1973, he received a doctorate in computer science from Harvard. He spent 22 years in Silicon Valley, and now lives in Boston and Maine. Rose-Hulman is a 1,960-student private college that specializes in undergraduate engineering, science and mathematics education. Located in Terre Haute, Ind., the college has been ranked first for 11th consecutive years in U.S. News & World Report's College Guide among institutions that offer the bachelor's or master's degrees as its top degree in engineering. Rose-Hulman offers a rigorous, hands-on education that stresses development of technical and interpersonal skills in an environment characterized by close personal attention for every student. - - - - ((AScribe - The Public Interest Newswire / http://www.ascribe.org)) |