Each year, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and its School of Advanced Computing host graduation ceremonies that complement USC’s main commencement ceremony. These include the Ph.D. hooding ceremony to be held on Wednesday, May 13, and the USC Viterbi School and its School of Advanced Computing undergraduate and master’s-level ceremonies on Friday, May 15, 2026. Over 3500 engineering students are expected to 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 & CEO and Chairman of Rubriq Corporation, for the two master’s ceremonies.
About the keynote speakers:
Karen Dahut, Chief Executive Officer of Google Public Sector (GPS)
Karen Dahut is an accomplished executive with over 25 years of experience in technology, cybersecurity and analytics. She has a strong track record of building businesses, executing large-scale growth strategies and creating unique solutions for both commercial and federal sectors. Currently, she serves as the founding Chief Executive Officer of Google Public Sector (GPS).
In this role, Dahut is dedicated to accelerating the digital transformation of U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. Her leadership at Google focuses on leveraging Google Cloud’s most advanced capabilities, including artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance citizen services; sophisticated cybersecurity tools for securing vital data; and open cloud infrastructure to help agencies modernize operations. Her mission-driven team is committed to helping these organizations achieve critical national objectives and drive impactful, large-scale change. Dahut began her career as an officer in the U.S. Navy, where she developed a lifelong commitment to serving the mission of the nation and the public sector.
She received a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Mount St. Mary’s University and a master’s degree in systems management from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
William F. Ballhaus, Jr., Retired President and CEO of the Aerospace Corporation
William F. Ballhaus, Jr. (NAE) is the retired president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation. Ballhaus joined Aerospace after serving as a corporate officer and VP for engineering and technology at the 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 acting associate administrator for aeronautics and space technology 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 Scientific Advisory Board (co-chair), Defense Science Board, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Scientific Advisory Board, NASA Advisory Council, Jet Propulsion Lab Directors Advisory Council, NAE Council, Boards of Directors of OSI Systems, Draper Labs, Space Foundation (chair), and MIT Lincoln Lab. Select awards include AIAA Goddard Astronautics, Von Karman Lectureship, National Intelligence Medal, National Reconnaissance Office Gold Medal, and NASA Distinguished Service and Exceptional Service Medals.
Ballhaus earned a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Asghar Mostafa, President & CEO and Chairman of Rubriq Corporation
Asghar Mostafa has spent more than 30 years creating and building category-defining technology companies. An experienced entrepreneur with an extensive business and technical background, he began his newest venture in May 2011. He is president, chief executive officer, and founder of Rubriq Corporation, a corporation founded to assist other entrepreneurs to build or run the next generation of high technology companies.
Previously, Mostafa founded Entourage Systems, Inc. (ESI), The company was the first in the world to introduce dual-display e-reader and Tablet netbook in one multimedia device. The company was purchased by Pleiades Publishing Limited in March 2011.
Mostafa also served as founder, President, and CEO of Vinci Systems which designed, manufactured, and sold interoperable broadband Optical Network Terminals (ONTs).
The company was purchased after two years of operation for $60 million by Tellabs Inc.
In 1997, Mostafa founded Advanced Switching Communications, Inc. (ASC) with the goal of revolutionizing global communications network architecture. ASC completed its initial public stock offering in 2000 and successfully raised close to $200 million in cash through private investment and initial public offering at $1 B valuation. By developing and bringing to market lower cost, highly flexible broadband access solutions, ASC broke the bandwidth bottleneck on the “on-ramp” of communications networks.
Mostafa also founded ISDN Systems Corporation (ISC), a leading provider of Integrated Services Digital Network and frame relay equipment; he served as president and CEO of ISC until 1995, when U.S. 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 long-standing 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 networking and communications companies. He currently serves on the board of directors of Rubriq Corp., Mostafa Group LLC, LTI DataComm, Pixspan, and served over 15 years at 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 1st, 2026
Last updated on April 1st, 2026