1998-1999
Technology Innovator Eric Hahn is WPI's Commencement Speaker
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/Apr. 9, 1999
Contact: WPI Media Relations, 508-831-5616
WORCESTER, Mass. - One of its shining stars returns to Worcester
Polytechnic Institute this spring when Eric Hahn, a member of the
class of 1980, serves as the 1999 Commencement speaker. During the
ceremonies, Saturday, May 22, at 11 a.m., on the main quadrangle of
the Worcester, Mass., campus, he also will receive an honorary
doctorate in science.
Hahn, who earned a B.S. in computer science at WPI, has founded a series of highly successful companies involving software and computer technology. Most recently he established Inventures Group, an investment company that encourages and supports start-up technology companies.
Hahn founded Collabra Software Inc. in 1993. Its flagship product, Collabra Share, won numerous awards in the computer industry before being sold to Netscape in 1995. Prior to Collabra, Hahn was with cc:Mail Inc., first as vice president of engineering and later as general manager. In 1991, cc:Mail was acquired by Lotus Development Corp. Hahn earlier served as a vice president and general manager of the Convergent Technologies division that produces PC and UNIX servers and software. Before that, at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, he was a key developer of the Arpanet network, the precursor to the Internet.
WPI recognized Hahn in 1995 with its Washburn Award, which honors young alumni for professional achievement. Interviewed in the university's alumni magazine, he praised an educational plan that develops well-rounded thinkers.
"What I appreciate most about my experience at WPI was that I got the chance to be an individual," he said. "My education was, to a large degree, designed by me, and I was responsible for it. I never felt like just some student ID number marching through a process to get to the finish line. And that's special - you don't get that everywhere."
A regular speaker at industry events, trade shows and panels, he and his wife, Elaine, of Palo Alto, Calif., are the parents of two sons, Evan and Jeremy.
On graduation day, the University will confer 638 bachelor's degrees, 251 master's degrees and 22 Ph.D.s. WPI's Commencement is marked by other events:
- Honorary doctorates in engineering will go to four recipients
for contributions to society, higher education or industry:
Douglas G. Noiles of New Canaan, Conn., a member of the WPI
class of 1944 and consultant in mechanical and bio-mechanical
engineering; Paul Severino, chairman and chief executive officer
of NetCentric Corp. of Bedford, Mass.; Bruce R. Bond, chairman,
chief executive officer and president of PictureTel Corp. of
Andover, Mass.; and T.S. Lin, chairman of Tatung Co., principal
of Tatung Senior High School and president of Tatung Institute
of Technology, all in Taiwan.
During a visit to Taiwan last fall, WPI President Edward Alton Parrish presented the honorary degree to Lin in person, an honor that will be noted at Commencement. - The Baccalaureate Ceremony takes place Friday, May 21, at 5:30
p.m., in Alden Memorial Hall. The ceremony features
inspirational music and messages from faculty, administration
and graduating students.
- The ROTC Commissioning Ceremony is Saturday, May 22, at 8:30
a.m. in Alden Memorial Hall. Brig. Gen. Edward R. "Buster"
Ellis, commander of the Air Force Officer Accession and Training
Schools at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, will be the
featured speaker. Ellis is the single-point manager for the Air
Force Reserve Office Training Corps and Officer Training
School.
For more information, please contact the WPI Communications Group at 508-831-6085.
Links related to this story:
- Ten Lives Changed - an
article in the October 1996 issue of the WPI Journal
highlights how the WPI Plan changed Eric Hahn '80's life, as
well as the lives of nine other WPI alumni.
- 131st Commencement - a site detailing this year's Commencement events, from Senior Week activities through the actual Commencement exercises.
