Yahoo! Inc. CEO and University graduate Tim Koogle will return to Grounds this spring to address the class of 2001 at Valediction on May 19.
The Graduation Committee, a sub-group of the Class of 2001 Trustees, selected Koogle from a long list of prospective speakers.
"We started soliciting names from the class at large" through e-mails, said Committee Chairman Ade Patton.
The e-mails yielded over 100 suggestions from fourth-year students, including athletes, celebrities and politicians. The Committee narrowed down the list and eventually snagged a commitment.
"We are both fortunate and excited that Tim Koogle is going to be speaking with us," Patton said.
Koogle took his position with Yahoo! in 1995, and since has established prominence in his field.
Business Week magazine has named him one of the "Top 25 Executives of the Year" for the past two years.
Koogle's success story is particularly appropriate for Valediction because he is a University alumnus, said Fourth-Year Class President Drew Davis.
"How much he has accomplished as a U.Va. graduate made him an obvious choice," Davis said.
The Committee chose Koogle not only because of his ties to the University but because he meets all the group's selection criteria, Patton said.
"We wanted a speaker that could be a prominent name, who could entertain us, who had a story to tell, and could give us valuable insights," he added.
Koogle's familiarity with the University will just make his speech all the more relevant to graduating students, Davis said.
"As a U.Va. graduate, he'll have knowledge of what we're facing as we are entering the 'real world,'" he said.
Koogle is no stranger to public speaking. He appears regularly on high-profile broadcast programs, including CNBC, CNN/fn and FOX News. His speeches "are supposed to be very solid," Davis said.
University students are not the only ones looking forward to Koogle's address. Koogle himself "is very excited to be a part of the ceremony," Davis said.
In previous years, valedictory speakers have included CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney, NBC Nightly News host Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric, University alumna and host of NBC's Today show.
Valediction is a ceremony held the day before Final Exercises for graduating fourth years, not students earning graduate degrees. Davis also will speak at the ceremony, and the Class of 2001 Trustees will present their class gift.
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