Mark Zuckerberg is finally about to get his college degree from Harvard. After famously dropping out of the Ivy League school to devote his time to Facebook, the CEO will be heading back to the university in May.
The Facebook founder won’t be attending any classes at Harvard, but he has been asked to speak at the 366th commencement. This means that Zuckerberg will also be receiving an honorary degree.
In a statement to the Harvard Gazette, university president Drew Faust said that Zuckerberg’s leadership has changed the nature of social engagement worldwide.
“Few inventions in modern times can rival Facebook in its far-reaching impact on how people around the globe interact with one another,” said Faust. “I greatly look forward to welcoming Mark back to Harvard on Commencement day.”
Zuckerberg enrolled in Harvard College in 2002. By his sophomore year, he and his friends created thefacebook.com which was initially designed as a social networking site for Harvard students. Eventually, the site was also used by other campuses and quickly gained popularity all over the world. Shortly after, Zuckerberg left Harvard to devote his full energy to the social media site.
Zuckerberg is not the first Harvard dropout who was invited to speak at the learning institution’s graduation exercises. Bill Gates, who co-founded Microsoft, dropped out in 1975 after spending only two years at the university. He was invited to speak at Commencement 2007. Incidentally, Zuckerberg was there when Gates spoke, as the Facebook CEO was there to see his wife, Priscilla Chan, graduate from college.
In a video posted by Harvard’s official Twitter account, Zuckerberg can be seen asking Gates for advice on what he will say at commencement.
“They know we didn’t actually graduate, right?” asked Zuckerberg.
“Oh, that is the best part!” Gates exclaimed. “They actually give you a degree!”
“You don’t even have to go to class?” said the 32-year-old.
“No, no…You just put that degree on your resume and it looks great,” said the Microsoft co-founder.
For more, check out Jobs & Hire’s report on what Mark Zuckerberg said about his side projects and what he learned from them.
