Indiana Wesleyan University has chosen Pat Gelsinger, a respected information technology veteran and business leader, as the 2021 inductee into the Society of World Changers. Gelsinger will be formally inducted into the IWU Society of World Changers during a special convocation on Nov. 3.
In February 2021, Gelsinger returned to the company where his career began and became the chief executive officer of Intel, a multinational corporation and technology company. During his initial 30 years with Intel, he became the first chief technology officer driving the creation of key industry technologies, including USB and Wi-Fi. As the architect of the original 80486 processor, Gelsinger also played a significant role in steering Intel to dominance in the microprocessor supplier market.
Prior to his return to Intel, Gelsinger served as CEO of VMware for nearly a decade. The software company more than doubled in size under Gelsinger’s leadership. In 2018, Fortune Magazine named Gelsinger one of its top “Businesspersons of the Year”, and in 2019 Gelsinger earned the No. 1 spot on Glassdoor’s list of top US CEOs, with a 99% employee approval ranking.
Previous to VMware, Gelsinger was president and chief operating officer of EMC’s Infrastructure and Products Group. There, he was responsible for all of EMC’s products – including storage, data analytics, security, management and data protection products, analytics, and the large majority of EMC’s revenue.
In 2003, Gelsinger wrote a book titled “Balancing Family, Faith and Work”. A second edition, titled “The Juggling Act,” was released in 2008. He has authored more than 20 technical publications, including the foundational “Programming the 80386,” and holds eight patents in the areas of VLSI design, computer architecture, and communications.
Gelsinger is passionate about giving back and is involved with several Christian charities including William Jessup University, Stadia, Luis Palau Association, Missions of Hope International and Mercy Ships. He is also spearheading the formation of TBC—Transforming the Bay with Christ—serving the San Francisco Bay Area in an effort to bring unity to the Christian community.
Gelsinger holds a master’s degree from Stanford University, a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and an associate degree from Lincoln Technical Institute—all in Electrical Engineering. He and his wife, Linda, have four adult children and seven grandkids.
“Pat Gelsinger is a tech industry legend who has driven the creation of technologies like USB and Wi-Fi,” said Dr. David Wright, president of IWU. “But he’s not just a really good engineer. He is also an enormously successful business leader. More importantly, Pat is known as one of the most visible Christian leaders of a publicly traded company today. He is passionate about sharing his faith and invested in seeing the Bay Area united in Christ. IWU is delighted to honor Pat Gelsinger as an inductee to the IWU Society of World Changers.”
