Xerox president to deliver 2009 commencement address

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A. Sue Weisler

Ursula Burns, president of Xerox Corp., at a 2005 visit to RIT.

Ursula Burns, president of Xerox Corp., will be the keynote presenter for RIT’s 124th Commencement. Burns will deliver her address during Academic Convocation, 4 p.m. May 22, in the Gordon Field House and Activities Center.

Burns, who is also a member of the Xerox Board of Directors, is responsible for the company’s global research, development, engineering, marketing and manufacturing of Xerox technology, supplies and related services. She also oversees global accounts, information management, corporate strategy, human resources and ethics, and marketing operations.

Burns joined Xerox in 1980 as a mechanical engineering summer intern, leading to several positions over the years in engineering including product development and planning. In 1991, she became the executive assistant to Paul Allaire, former Xerox chairman and chief executive officer.

From 1992 to 2000, Burns led several business teams including the office color and fax business, office network copying business, and the departmental business unit. In 2000, she was named senior vice president for corporate strategic services, and two years later assumed the role of president of business group operations.

She serves on professional and community boards, including American Express Corp., Boston Scientific Corp., CASA—The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), National Academy Foundation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Rochester.

“RIT is extremely pleased to have Ursula Burns as our 2009 Commencement speaker,” says RIT President Bill Destler. “She is recognized as one of the most influential figures in the global business world. She is the perfect role model for our students. They will learn that with hard work and perseverance, you can start out as a summer intern and ascend to be a corporate president.”

Burns earned a bachelor’s degree from Polytechnic Institute of New York and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University.