CONTACT: David Nutter (540) 231-6669 [email protected]
NOVELL EXECUTIVE TO BE COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
BLACKBSURG, March 30, 1999 -- Eric Schmidt, the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of network computing giant Novell Inc., will be Virginia Tech's commencement speaker during ceremonies in Lane Stadium on Saturday, May 15, beginning at 9 a.m.
"Because of Virginia Tech's nationally recognized leadership in information technology and our leadership in developing the architecture of the next generation Internet, I felt that Dr. Schmidt will would be an outstanding choice to speak to our graduating class," said President Paul Torgersen. "The students time here in Blacksburg has been defined by the Internet, I think it is appropriate for them to hear from someone who helping shape the future direction of this wonderful new tool."
At Novell, Schmidt is actively involved in all significant operating and strategic decisions for the company and plays a central role in the technical development of the company.
Novell, which reported revenue of $1.084 billion in 1998, is a fast emerging leader in network services and Internet / Intranet software solutions. With its corporate headquarters based in Provo, Utah, Novell products enable customers to securely integrate the global Internet with their private business networks. These "intelligent networks" recognize every user, provides secure access to every network resource, and supports every critical computing task.
Schmidt has many ties to Virginia Tech. He grew up in Blacksburg and his father was a professor in the economics department.
During the spring convocation some 3,000 to 4,000 students will receive their bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. The university also holds a fall commencement.
Schmidt came to Novell from Sun Microsystems where he was chief technology officer. In his 14 years at Sun, he was recognized as an Internet pioneer. He was instrumental in the widespread acceptance of Java, Sun's platform-independent programming language.
Prior to joining Sun, Schmidt was a member of the research staff at the Computer Science Lab at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. He also held positions with Bell Laboratories and Zilog.
Schmidt has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University, a master's degree in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California at Berkeley.
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