Dr. John Hennessy has been President of Stanford University since 2000. He became a Stanford faculty member in 1977. He rose through the academic ranks to full professorship in 1986 and was the inaugural Willard R. and Inez Kerr Bell Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from 1987 to 2004.

A pioneer in computer architecture, in 1981 Dr. Hennessy drew together researchers to focus on a computer architecture known as RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer), a technology that has revolutionized the computer industry by increasing performance while reducing costs. In 1984, he used his sabbatical year to found MIPS Computer Systems Inc. to commercialize his research in RISC processors.

Dr. Hennessy is a recipient of the 2000 IEEE John von Neumann Medal, a 2004 NEC C&C Prize for lifetime achievement in computer science and engineering, and a 2005 Founders Award from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Hennessy earned his bachelor's deg...

Go to complete bio »
Speaker's website »