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Friends honor Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers by establishing endowed chair in Internet systems at IU
June 19, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Friends and colleagues of John T. Chambers, president and chief executive officer of Cisco Systems, have contributed more than $1.2 million to establish an endowed chair in his honor at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
Among top-tier business schools, the John T. Chambers Chair in Internet Systems is one of a handful of endowed chairs dedicated exclusively to the study of the Internet and related networking systems.
Chambers, who earned a master of business administration degree in finance and management from IU in 1976, received news of the endowment this spring at a dinner celebrating his fifth anniversary as Cisco's top executive.
"Mr. Chambers' accomplishments are legendary, as his friends and colleagues have aptly acknowledged. This was a marvelous gift for Mr. Chambers and a greater gift to us," said Dan Dalton, dean of the Kelley School of Business.
Cisco Systems also is one of the leading high tech companies that have pledged their information technology engineers and architects to ensure that the Kelley School's new $34 million Corporate and Graduate Center will be at the leading edge of educational and communications technology.
"Higher education is one of John Chambers' passions. He rightly feels that the training our young people receive today is directly related to the next significant wave of growth in the technology industry," said John Morgridge, Cisco Systems chairman.
"We all share a responsibility to promote first-rate instruction in our nation's great universities. Cisco is proud to further its association with the Kelley School in the form of the Chambers Chair in Internet Systems. For us at Cisco, it is an investment in our future as well as a fitting tribute to the work and devotion of John Chambers," Morgridge added.
Cisco Systems is the worldwide leader of networking for the Internet. Since January 1995, when Chambers became president and CEO, the company has grown from $1.2 billion in annual revenues to its current run-rate of $17 billion. Today, Cisco is the fastest-growing company in the history of the computer industry and is the highest-valued company in the world, reaching a $500 billion market capitalization quicker than any other U.S. company.
Chambers has been lauded by government leaders and countless publications for his visionary strategy, his ability to drive an entrepreneurial culture, and his warmhearted, straight-talking approach. Widely recognized for his evangelistic style, Chambers is considered one of the most innovative and dynamic leaders in global business today. In 1999, Business Week named Chambers "Mr. Internet," as well as one of the top 25 executives worldwide for the second time in three years.
ABC's 20/20 program spotlighted Chambers as "The Best Boss in America." Time Digital placed Chambers among the top 10 most influential leaders shaping technology today, and this spring Worth magazine named him the No. 1 CEO in America. Recently, the Industry Standard ranked Chambers as one of the most influential people in the Internet economy. The United States Internet Council honored Chambers with its Internet Industry Leader Award for 2000.
Fortune lists Cisco as the No. 3 place to work and the No. 4 most-admired company in America. Network World recently rated Cisco as one of the "10 most powerful companies in networking" and John Chambers as "one of the 25 most powerful executives" in 1999. In 1998, Forbes ASAP designated Cisco as the country's most dynamic company.
Chambers joined Cisco in 1991 as senior vice president, worldwide sales and operations. Prior to joining Cisco, Chambers spent eight years at Wang Laboratories and six years with IBM. Chambers also holds a J.D. degree and a B.S./B.A. degree in business from West Virginia University.
The Kelley School of Business, through more than 75 years of innovation, continues to maintain its visibility as one of the country's premier business schools. Its undergraduate program is ranked among the top 10 in the country. Its MBA program has been cited in Business Week as one of the favorites of corporate recruiters looking for general managers, marketing talent and finance graduates.
Other definitive publications, including U.S. News & World Report, Money and Princeton Review, have recognized various Kelley programs as among the best. The school's doctoral program, which also contributes to overall teaching and research excellence, has sent more than 1,000 doctoral graduates to key positions in industry and academe.
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu or Margaret Garrison, Kelley School of Business, 812-855-3369, magarris@indiana.edu)