Google's Sergey Brin Will Keynote Maryland´s December Commencement

What would the Internet be like without

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The world´s favorite search engine is home page for many a World Wide Web browser these days. And we all have Maryland alum Sergey Brin to thank for it. After graduating in 1993 with a B.A. in math and computer science, Brin headed to Stanford for graduate work. In September, 1998, he teamed up with classmate Larry Page to create Google, hoping to make Internet searches easier and quicker. The rest, as they say, is history. Google currently has more than 1000 employees worldwide. 60 are Ph.D.s.

Now 30, Brin was named Maryland´s Outstanding Young Alumnus in May and will be December´s Keynote Speaker during commencement ceremonies at the Comcast Center. University President C.D."Dan" Mote Jr. calls Brin "extraordinarily creative" and predicts he will be a great speaker. "He´s an icon of the brilliant young thinkers and entrepreneurs in the computer age who have had enormous impact on the country and the world," says Mote.

Brin´s ties to the University remain close. His father, Michael, is a math professor at Maryland. Brin says he is "extremely proud and happy" to have his son speak during the commencement ceremonies.

For his part, Sergey Brin praises the education he got at Maryland: "I got a lot of attention, a lot of one on one. I was better prepared than peers from MIT and Harvard."

Brin currently serves on the board of visitors for the College of Computer, Mathematics and Physical Sciences. This past summer (2003), he donated a special version of Google as part of a company donation program aimed at selected universities. The two-year donation is valued at some $28,000.

A Google spokesman says Brin´s speech will likely look at his experience as an entrepreneur as well as trends in technology.

Brin will be the last commencement speaker chosen by the university. In future, senior class students will be responsible for everything from identifying, inviting and introducing commencement speakers.

Maryland´s main Commencement exercise is scheduled for Saturday, December 20 at the Comcast Center on campus. The procession starts at 6:30 p.m. with the Commencement ceremonies set to start at 7 p.m. The university will provide a live streaming video feed. Watch for the link at www.umd.edu. UMTV, Maryland´s cable TV station, will also rebroadcast the commencement ceremonies a number of times.

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