RIT on TV News: Ursula Burns at Commencement

ABC World News reports on the commencement address delivered to graduates at Rochester Institute of Technology by Xerox president Ursula Burns as she begins her transition as the first African American woman to lead a fortune 500 company.

Charles Gibson: Next, we're going to turn to history being made in corporate America. For the first time, an African-American woman is going to head a fortune 500 company. Urls l burns, who once worked as the executive assistant to the economy's ceo will now be the ceo. She takes over July 1st. Here's Kate Snow.
Reporter: At Rochester Institute of Technology this afternoon, the incoming CEO of Xerox spoke to the graduates.
Ursula Burns: I can assure you that no one at my commencement was pointing at me and predicted I would become the CEO of anything. Women president or CEOs of large companies were not existing at that time. Black women presidents were unimaginable.
Reporter: 50-year-old Ursula Burns joined in 1980 and grew up inside the company.
Burns: The old notion that work is drudgery is nonsense. Most days, even back when Xerox was under siege, I could not wait to get up and go into the office.
Reporter: For the first time ever at a Fortune 500 company, a woman will hand the reins to another woman. In a letter to employees, current CEO Anne Mulcahy said Burns had been by her side as they turned Xerox around over the past decade. This may qualify as one of the smoothest and most telegraphed transitions in the annals of business, she wrote. In many ways, it is a Hollywood script.
Reporter: The script started here in New York City where Ursula Burns lived with a single mother in the projects. One Xerox insider said she still has a tough New Yorker no-nonsense style. She'll be faced with some tough decisions in the months ahead. Xerox revenues were down in the first quarter. In an e-mail to Xerox employees, Burns said you can expect me to be a passionate champion of our time-honored values...but you can also expect me to be an advocate for change and eager to break a little glass when needed. She's already broken the glass ceiling. Kate Snow, ABC News, New York.

Category:

Education

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• RIT
• Graduation

[RITUniversityNews]

Full transcript of Ursula Burns' RIT commencement address and additional coverage available on the RIT news Web site.

[RITUniversityNews]

Full transcript of ABC News report available by clicking the "more info" link near the top of the right-hand column of this page.

[11Grayfox11]

Tremendous leader, only thing i don't like is the cut-throat nature of business where she had to cut Xerox staff from 100,000 to 50,000 to save the company. You will have to decide where your values are as a CEO but as for me, i'm not ruthless enough to be a sucessful business boss. But i totally respect her dedication and loyalty to the company and determination to make the company a success.

[loveistheway777]

Super!!!

[tvh2k]

I fell asleep during her commencement address. Except for the part where she commented on how she's "been with Xerox during some of its toughest times," that is. That's when I pulled out my iPhone and loaded a 30-year XRX chart, confirming that _now_ is "some of Xerox's toughest times". Since she became president XRX is down 59% (vs 34% S&P500). Great job Ms. former president and CEO.

I seriously hope that she's a better leader than orator. I fear that she's going to lead Xerox to its demise.

[sherisebe]

lol, true

[feelgoodthing]

how about some closed captioning?

for a university with deaf students, closed captioning would be cool. :-p