Entrepreneur, scientist, engineer Astro Teller is RIT’s Academic Convocation keynote speaker

Astro Teller, a renowned entrepreneur, engineer, scientist, and “Captain of Moonshots” at X Google’s Factory and innovation lab, will be an honorary degree recipient and the keynote speaker for Rochester Institute of Technology’s Academic Convocation on May 9.

Teller, who is widely recognized for his leadership in technological innovation, oversees X, Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory designed to help tackle the world’s most difficult problems with bold solutions. Some of X’s best known moonshot technologies include Waymo autonomous cars, Verily life sciences, Google Brain, and Wing delivery drones.

Before joining Google/Alphabet, Teller was the co-founding CEO of several companies including Cerebellum Capital Inc., an investment management firm whose investments are continuously designed, executed, and improved by a software system based on techniques from statistical machine learning; BodyMedia Inc., a wearable body monitoring company; and SANDbOX Advanced Development, an advanced development technology incubator.

Prior to that, Teller taught at Stanford University and was an engineer and researcher for Phoenix Laser Technologies, Stanford’s Center for Integrated Systems, and Carnegie Group.

Teller earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in symbolic and heuristic computation from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence from Carnegie Mellon University, where he received the prestigious Hertz Fellowship for students studying applied physical, biological, and engineering sciences. He will receive an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from RIT prior to his address.

Through his work as a scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur, Teller holds many U.S. and international patents related to hardware and software technology. Teller is also a novelist and screenwriter.

Go to RIT’s Commencement website for more information about the ceremonies taking place May 9-10.