Bloomberg CTO Shawn Edwards to Give 2019 Class Day Address

Apr 11 2019 | By Allison Elliott | Photo Credit: Lori Hoffman/Bloomberg

Class Day speaker Shawn Edwards BS’90, MS’95.

NEW YORK—April 12, 2019—Shawn Edwards, Bloomberg’s Chief Technology Officer and an alumnus of Columbia Engineering with  BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering, will give the keynote address to students at Class Day, the engineering school-specific graduation ceremony at Columbia University, on Monday, May 20, 2019.

As CTO, Edwards is responsible for setting Bloomberg’s global technology strategy and works with the company’s global Engineering team to develop Bloomberg’s leading market data, analytics, news, and community products. His research teams lead the investigation and investment in emerging technologies that are of strategic importance to the company, in addition to architecting strategic technical solutions – including enhancements to the company’s core business, the Bloomberg Terminal.

“As an alum of SEAS, I’m honored to be invited to speak to this year’s graduates,” said Edwards. “This is an incredibly talented and diverse set of students that are ready to take on big challenges.  I’m eager to share my enthusiasm with the students as they mark this important chapter in their lives.”

Edwards advances Bloomberg’s engagement with academia, including research fellowships, grants, and sponsorships, as well as the company’s engagement with the open source and developer communities. He is the current vice chair of the Board of Visitors at Columbia Engineering, a member of the Advisory Council for the Columbia Data Science Institute, and a member of Columbia’s working group for NYC Women in Tech (NYC WIT), a city-wide initiative focused on building up the pipeline of talented female engineers for leadership positions in academia and industry. The company’s own Bloomberg Women in Technology (BWIT) organization has more than 1,000 members – both women and their allies –across chapters in New York, London, Princeton, and San Francisco.

“Shawn is a role model for our students. His personal trajectory illustrates how his foundation in engineering can have a transformative impact on many industry sectors. Through his leadership and service, he has mentored and propelled talent in a field rapidly evolving due to technological advancements and has advanced our shared goals in improving education, research, and excellence in engineering and technology across New York City and beyond,” said Mary C. Boyce, Dean of Engineering and Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor at Columbia. “We appreciate Shawn’s remarkable commitment to Columbia Engineering and are excited to have him share his journey and thoughts with our graduating students as our Class Day speaker.”

Before joining Bloomberg, Edwards worked at Bear Stearns & Co. as managing director of the fixed income trading group and also held positions at Mentor Graphics and IBM. He has been named one of the financial industry’s top ten technology leaders by Institutional Investor.

 

Shawn is a role model for our students. His personal trajectory illustrates how his foundation in engineering can have a transformative impact on many industry sectors.

Mary C. Boyce
Dean of Columbia Engineering

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