Background
He earned his Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Villanova University, and his Master's degree and Ph.D. in computer science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In 2012, Hennessy received an honorary doctor of mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo (Canada), in celebration of his profound contributions to modern computer architecture and to post-secondary education.
Hennessy became a Stanford faculty member in 1977. In 1984, he used his sabbatical year to found MIPS Computer Systems Inc. to commercialize his research in RISC processors. In 1987, he became the Willard and Inez Kerr Bell Endowed Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Hennessy served as director of Stanford's Computer System Laboratory (1989–1993), a research center run by Stanford's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science departments. He was chair of the Department of Computer Science (1994–1996) and Dean of the School of Engineering (1996–1999).
In 1999, Stanford President Gerhard Casper appointed Hennessy to succeed Condoleezza Rice as Provost of Stanford University. When Casper stepped down to focus on teaching in 2000, the Stanford Board of Trustees named Hennessy to succeed Casper as president. In 2008, Hennessy earned a salary of $1,091,589 ($702,771 base pay, $259,592 deferred benefits, $129,226 nontax benefits), the 23rd highest among all American university presidents.
In 1997, he was inducted as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, ACM.
Hennessy is a board member of Google, Cisco Systems, Atheros Communications, and the Daniel Pearl Foundation.
On October 14, 2010, Hennessy was presented a khata by the 14th Dalai Lama before His Holiness addressed Maples Pavilion.
In December 2010, Hennessy coauthored an editorial with Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust urging the passage of the DREAM Act; the legislation did not pass the 111th United States Congress.
In 2012, Hennessy was awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor. The IEEE awarded Hennessy their highest recognition "for pioneering the RISC processor architecture and for leadership in computer engineering and higher education."
Read more about this topic: John L. Hennessy
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