PayPal CEO Dan Schulman Named As Rutgers 2018 Graduation Speaker

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Like using PayPal? The man who runs the company has been chosen as Rutgers 2018 spring commencement speaker, the state university announced Tuesday. Past Rutgers graduation speakers have included sitting President Barack Obama and Steven "Little Steven" Van Zandt, of "Sopranos" and Bruce Springsteen fame.

Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal, has been chosen as the 252nd anniversary commencement speaker for Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Schulman will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the May 13 ceremony at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway.

Shulman has served as a trustee at Rutgers for six years in the past: He served on the Rutgers Board of Trustees from July 2006 to June 2012 and was a member of the university’s Board of Governors from April 2008 to June 2013.

As PayPal’s leader, Schulman is focused on transforming financial services to make life easier for billions of people around the world. With his deep experience in payments and mobile technology, the New Jersey native is guiding PayPal to reimagine how people move and manage money, and how merchants and consumers interact and transact.

Schulman is the recipient of the 2017 Brennan Legacy Award, established to honor the Supreme Court justice and his career-long commitment to social justice and “common human dignity.” The Council for Economic Education named him as its 2017 Visionary for promoting economic and financial literacy to create a better-informed society.

Schulman has been recognized as one of the top 10 CEOs in the world by Fortune, named one of the top 100 most creative people by Fast Company, and included on the 2017 Recode 100 list of people making the biggest impact on business and technology. He also has been recognized as one of the top 10 most innovative CEOs in banking.

He previously served as group president of Enterprise Growth at American Express, where he led its global strategy to expand the company’s alternative mobile and online payment services. Prior to joining American Express, he was president of the Prepaid Group at Sprint Nextel Corporation following its acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA, Inc., where he led the company as its founding CEO for eight years. Earlier in his career, Schulman was president and CEO of Priceline Group, Inc., where he led the company through a period of rapid growth and expansion. He also spent 18 years at AT&T, where he held a series of positions, including president of the Consumer Markets Division.

Schulman earned a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and a master of business from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is a board member of Autism Speaks, and serves on the World Economic Forum’s Future of the Global Financial System taskforce and the boards of Flextronics International Ltd. and Symantec Corporation, where he is the non-executive chair of the board. He is also an avid mixed martial arts practitioner.

Schulman was chosen to speak at Rutgers as part of a yearlong selection process that involved students, faculty and staff.

Rutgers previously announced that Anita Hill, a national figure leading the #TimesUp movement against sexual harassment and assault and a vocal advocate for equal opportunities for women in STEM and other fields, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws from Rutgers University-Camden during the Rutgers Law School commencement ceremony on May 17. She also will deliver the keynote address for the Class of 2018 at that commencement ceremony.

Rutgers University-Newark previously announced that Newark’s Queen Latifah will deliver the keynote address at the Rutgers-Newark commencement ceremony on May 14 at the Prudential Center. The hip-hop icon, award-winning actress, singer/song-writer, producer, entrepreneur, and humanitarian also will receive an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

Photo credit is courtesy of Dan Schulman to Rutgers University.