USC Viterbi School of Engineering and its School of Advanced Computing Announce Keynote Speakers for 2026 Commencement Ceremonies – USC Viterbi | School of Engineering

Each year, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and its School of Advanced Computing graduation ceremonies complement USC’s main commencement ceremony. These include Ph.D. the ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 13, and the USC Viterbi School and its School of Advanced Computing and master’s-level ceremonies on Friday, May 15, 2026. It is expected that more than 3500 engineering students will participate in these ceremonies. These ceremonies will feature the following keynote speakers: For the undergraduate ceremony: Karen Dahut, CEO, Google Public Sector; and William F. Ballhaus, Jr., Retired President and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation; and Asghar Mostafa, President and CEO and Chairman of Rubriq Corporationfor the feasts of the two masters.

About the keynote speakers:

Karen Dahut, Senior Executive Officer of Google Public Sector (GPS)

Karen Dahut is a senior executive with over 25 years of experience in technology, cybersecurity and analytics. He has a strong track record of building businesses, implementing growth strategies and creating unique solutions for the corporate and government sectors. Currently, he serves as the Founder of Google Public Sector (GPS).

In this role, Dahut aims to accelerate the digital transformation of US government agencies, academic institutions and non-profit organizations. His leadership at Google focuses on leveraging the advanced capabilities of Google Cloud, including artificial intelligence (AI) to improve citizen services; advanced cybersecurity tools for protecting important data; and open cloud resources to help organizations improve operations. His mission-driven team is committed to helping these organizations achieve key national goals and drive significant change. Dahut began his career as an officer in the US Navy, where he developed a lifelong commitment to serving the public mission and public sector.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Mount St. Mary’s and a master’s degree in systems engineering from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

William F. Ballhaus, Jr., retired President and CEO of Aerospace Corporation

William F. Ballhaus, Jr. (NAE) is the retired president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation. Ballhaus joined Aerospace after serving as a business officer and VP for engineering and technology at Lockheed Martin Corporation. Prior to Lockheed Martin, Ballhaus served as president of two Martin Marietta businesses, Aero and Naval Systems, and Civil Space and Communications. Before joining Martin Marietta, Ballhaus served as director of the NASA Ames Research Center. Ballhaus also served as the deputy assistant administrator for aeronautical and space sciences at NASA Headquarters.

Ballhaus is an honorary fellow and past president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the American Astronautical Society, and a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). He has served on the Air Force Science Advisory Board (chair), Defense Science Board, National Science and Atmospheric Administration Advisory Council, NASA Advisory Council, Jet Propulsion Lab Directors Advisory Council, NAE Council, Boards of Directors of OSI Systems, Draper Labs, Space Foundation (Lincoln chair), and MIT Lab. Selected awards include the AIAA Goddard Astronautics, Von Karman Lectureship, National Intelligence Medal, National Reconnaissance Gold Medal, and NASA Distinguished Service and Service Awards.

Ballhaus received his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Asghar MostafaPresident & CEO and Chairman of Rubriq Corporation

Asghar Mostafa has spent more than 30 years creating and building technology companies that define the category. An experienced entrepreneur with an extensive business and technology background, he started his new venture in May 2011. He is the president, CEO, and founder of Rubriq Corporation, an organization founded to help other entrepreneurs build or run the next generation of high-tech companies.

Previously, Mostafa founded Entourage Systems, Inc. (ESI), the Company was the first in the world to produce a dual-layer e-reader and Tablet netbook in one multimedia device. The company was acquired by Pleiades Publishing Limited in March 2011.

Mostafa also served as the founder, President, and CEO of Vinci Systems which designed, manufactured and sold Broadband Optical Network Terminals (ONTs).

The company was bought after two years of operation for $60 million by Tellabs Inc.

In 1997, Mostafa founded Advanced Switching Communications, Inc. (ASC) with the goal of changing the world’s telecommunications infrastructure. ASC completed its first public stock offering in 2000 and managed to raise about 200 billion in private investment and an initial public offering with a value of $ 1 B. By developing and bringing to the market a low-cost, highly flexible broadband access solution, ASC broke the bandwagon of “bandwidth on the road” in the communications network.

Mostafa also founded ISDN Systems Corporation (ISC), a leading provider of Integrated Services Digital Network and frame transfer equipment; he served as president and CEO of ISC until 1995, when US Robotics, now part of 3Com, acquired the company for $40 million. While at 3Com, he led the company’s efforts to develop next-generation Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology.

Mostafa holds an MS in computer science and an MS and BS in electrical engineering from George Washington University and is a past member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He has served on the board of directors of several Internet and telecommunications companies. He currently serves on the board of directors of Rubriq Corp., Mostafa Group LLC, LTI DataComm, Pixspan, and has served for over 15 years on the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) Executive National Advisory Council.

For information about the USC Viterbi School of Engineering ceremonies, please visit: https://viterbigrad.usc.edu/academic-services/commencement-information/

Published on April 1, 2026

Last updated on April 1, 2026

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