Greg Brown, Chairman and CEO of Motorola Solutions, will be Keynote Speaker at Rutgers’ 246th Commencement May 13

Brown is a member of Rutgers’ Board of Trustees and also a member of the Rutgers University Foundation Board of Overseers. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the 12:30 p.m. universitywide graduation ceremony at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers’ Livingston College – now part of the School of Arts and Sciences – in 1982.

Brown was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2010 and has been active at the university for many years. He served as co-Master of Ceremonies at the kickoff dinner for the university’s ongoing, $1 billion Our Rutgers, Our Future capital campaign and is chair of the presidential search committee.

Brown joined Motorola in 2003 and was elected to the company’s board of directors in 2007. He became CEO of Motorola Inc. in 2008 and after a successful spin-off of the consumer-focused Motorola Mobility in 2011 he now leads Motorola Solutions, the leading provider of mission critical communications to governments and enterprises. 

Prior to joining Motorola, he was chairman and chief executive officer of Micromuse Inc., a publicly traded network- management software company. Before that, he served as president of Ameritech Custom Business Services and Ameritech New Media Inc., and held a variety of sales and marketing positions with AT&T.

In addition to his responsibilities at Motorola Solutions, Brown is an active member of the business and civic communities. President Obama appointed him to serve on the President’s Management Advisory Board as well as the Skills for America’s Future board. He is on the executive committee of the U.S.-China Business Council and serves as a member of The Business Council, Business Roundtable and the Technology CEO Council. A resident of Illinois, he serves his local community as a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and on the board of directors of World Business Chicago, and also has helped recruit corporations to the city.

Brown is also a proud supporter of Rutgers. He contributed funds toward the new recruiting pavilion and welcome center at High Point Solutions Stadium, and supports the Rutgers Psychological Clinic at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. Brown is an active supporter of cancer research, serving as a member of the American Cancer Society Discovery Ball Board of Ambassadors since 2008 and as a vice chair of the Illinois Chapter of CEOs Against Cancer.

Brown will replace Junot Díaz, award-winning author and fellow alumnus, as Commencement speaker. Diaz canceled his appearance as speaker for medical reasons.