Archives
YouTube co-founder to be commencement speaker at Illinois
Jeff Unger,
News Bureau
217-333-1085
Released
3/27/07
|
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —
Jawed Karim, an alumnus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and a co-founder of YouTube, a popular video-sharing Web site, will
be the speaker at the 136th U. of I. Commencement on
May 13 (Sunday). He will speak at the 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. ceremonies
at Assembly Hall, 1800
S. First St., Champaign.
YouTube revolutionized the spread of video on the Web and, in turn,
the transfer of information worldwide.
“Although it wasn’t long ago that Jawed himself was receiving
his degree, he already has made a huge impact on people around the world,”
said Richard Herman, the chancellor of the Urbana campus. “His
concept for what became YouTube has changed the very nature of how video
files are shared. We are proud he’s serving as our Commencement
speaker, and we know he’ll inspire this year’s graduating
class to follow his example and become the leaders of their generation.”
Karim attended Illinois from 1997 until 2000, when he joined PayPal
to become one of its first developers.
He completed his remaining credits at Illinois by correspondence and
earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2004.
In 2005, Karim co-founded YouTube with two friends, co-developing the
concept and product.
He subsequently acted as an adviser to the company and now is a graduate
student in computer science at Stanford University. He is also an investor
in early stage startups through Youniversity Ventures, an advisory venture
fund he founded.
