IBM Watson's Michael Rhodin to speak at Commencement

Michael Rhodin, senior vice president of Watson Business Development for IBM, will be the featured speaker at Roanoke College's Commencement exercises on Saturday, May 7 at 10 am on the John R. Turbyfill Quadrangle. Watson is one of IBM's most significant innovations in the company's 103-year history and represents a new era of information technology. The class includes Olivia Rhodin, who is the daughter of Michael Rhodin and Ingrid Klove.

Streets around the Salem campus will be closed and/or congested from 8 am Saturday until midafternoon. Parking for commencement guests is available all around campus and golf cart shuttles will transport guests from parking lots to the event locations.

In case of inclement weather, the ceremony on Saturday moves to the Salem Civic Center. Check roanoke.edu/commencement or Facebook and Twitter for updates.

The commencement will be streamed live at roanoke.edu/commencementlive.

Baccalaureate service will be held on Friday, May 6 with Rev. Christopher Bowen as the featured speaker. Bowen is the Timothy Pickle Dean of the Chapel at Roanoke College.

The Class of 2016 is comprised of 446 graduates from 29 states and eight home countries; 41 graduates are double majors and one is a triple major (a rare instance but not the first time.) Graduates will earn Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Business Administration degrees.

An honorary Doctor of Science will be awarded to Dr. Elisabeth Gantt, a plant biologist and member of the National Academy of Sciences who is a research associate at Roanoke College. Rhodin also will receive an honorary Doctor of Science during the ceremony.

Rhodin was previously senior vice president of IBM Watson Group. Under his leadership, Watson moved from a groundbreaking research project in artificial intelligence and machine learning to two thriving business units: Watson and Watson Health. Before leading the Watson program, Rhodin led the Software Solutions Group delivering industry-specific solutions in high-growth areas such as business analytics, smarter commerce, smarter cities and social business. Throughout his 30 year career at IBM, Rhodin has exhibited a passion for helping clients extract value from their technology investments, improve their business performance, and simplify the way people work. He also led IBM Northeast Europe. He serves on the Partnership of New York City board and the University of Michigan Computer Science and Engineering National Advisory Board. Rhodin joined IBM in 1984 after graduating from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in computer science.

For all information about Commencement and Baccalaureate, please visit roanoke.edu/commencement.