Indiana Wesleyan University will formally induct the CEO of Intel, Pat Gelsinger, into the IWU Society of World Changers during a special convocation to be held on the Marion, IN campus November 3rd. Gelsinger is a respected information technology veteran and business leader. In February 2021, he returned to the company where his career began and became the chief executive officer of Intel, a multinational corporation and technology company.
“Pat Gelsinger is a tech industry legend who has driven the creation of technologies like USB and Wi-Fi,” said Dr. David Wright, president of IWU. “But he’s not just a really good engineer. He is also an enormously successful business leader. More importantly, Pat is known as one of the most visible Christian leaders of a publicly traded company today. He is passionate about sharing his faith and invested in seeing the Bay Area united in Christ. IWU is delighted to honor Pat Gelsinger as an inductee to the IWU Society of World Changers.”
The convocation is an annual highlight for IWU’s student body of nearly 3,000 and will include performances by the school orchestra and the University Chorale. While on campus, Mr. Gelsinger will join students and professors from a leadership class for breakfast and will be honored during a special Society of World Changers luncheon.
Gelsinger will also share some of his engineering and business insights with students and professors in the IWU pre-engineering program. This unique opportunity to hear from such an influential leader in the industry promises to be a highlight of the semester for the class as the University is currently exploring the addition of an Engineering program with five specializations (Civil, Computer, Electrical, Mechanical and Design Engineering). The program is set to launch in the Fall of 2022 pending full accreditation approval from the Higher Learning Commission.
During his initial 30 years with Intel, Gelsinger became the first chief technology officer driving the creation of key industry technologies, including USB and Wi-Fi. As the architect of the original 80486 processor, he also played a significant role in steering Intel to dominance in the microprocessor supplier market. Prior to his return to the company, Gelsinger served as CEO of VMware for nearly a decade. The software company more than doubled in size under his leadership and in 2018, Fortune Magazine named Gelsinger one of its top “Businesspersons of the Year”. In 2019 he earned the No. 1 spot on Glassdoor’s list of top US CEOs, with a 99% employee approval ranking.
In 2003, Gelsinger wrote a book titled “Balancing Family, Faith and Work”. A second edition, titled “The Juggling Act,” was released in 2008. He has authored more than 20 technical publications, including the foundational “Programming the 80386,” and holds eight patents in the areas of VLSI design, computer architecture, and communications.
Gelsinger is passionate about giving back and is involved with several Christian charities including William Jessup University, Stadia, Luis Palau Association, Missions of Hope International and Mercy Ships. He is also spearheading the formation of TBC—Transforming the Bay with Christ—serving the San Francisco Bay Area in an effort to bring unity to the Christian community.
Gelsinger holds a master’s degree from Standford University, a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and an associate degree from Lincoln Technical Institute—all in Electrical Engineering. He will add an honorary doctor of science degree from IWU to his academic designations, which will be presented to him during the Society of World Changers induction ceremony. He and his wife, Linda, have four adult children and seven grandkids.