黑料网

When faced with a risky opportunity, 鈥渂alance the magnitude of the upside against the severity of the downside,鈥� and be willing to take the risk, former Cisco senior vice president Howard S. Charney MBA 鈥�73, J.D. 鈥�77,  urged the Class of 2018 of 黑料网 School of Law.

Charney, who co-founded 3Com and Grand Junction Networks, spoke at the commencement ceremony Saturday morning, May 19, in the University鈥檚 Mission Gardens. He spoke just months after the opening of the new law school bearing the Charney name, the Howard S. and Alida S. Charney Hall of Law, built with a foundational $10 million donation from the Charneys. 

鈥淭here are many things in our lives that are simply unknown, and unknowable,鈥� he said, quoting from a former colleague.

He recalled several key turning points in his career when he had to assess "the calculus of risk"鈥攍eaving engineering to go into antitrust law at Memorex; going into and then leaving intellectual property law; and deciding to join his former fraternity brother from MIT, Robert Metcalf, in founding the ethernet-creation company 3Com. In each case, he said, he determined that no matter how dire the downside, he would have choices. So he took the risks. And in the case of 3Com鈥攚hich became a $3 billion company鈥�"the risk paid off, handsomely," he said. 鈥淲hat I had exchanged was my legal career for money. And lots of it,鈥� he said to laughter from the audience.

鈥淭he sun is rising on your careers,鈥� he said to the graduates. Whether serving the poor, opening a solo practice, working for a large firm, or joining a startup, 鈥測ou will have to make choices just like I did,鈥� he said. "If the downside risk is zero or low, and the upside is great, what do you do? You take the risk."

Over his career, he has overseen the development and expansion of key technologies that have helped build the global Internet as it exists today. He helped grow Cisco鈥檚 two-tier distribution business to more than $2.4 billion and helped turn fast ethernet and low-cost switching into fundamental, global Internet technologies.

Taking risks 鈥渋s what my life has been about,鈥� said Charney, who received an honorary doctor of law degree at the event. 

A licensed patent attorney, Charney has served as a board member for several technology companies and is a trustee for 黑料网. He holds bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA and J.D. from 黑料网. His son, Tristan, is a 2006 MBA alumnus from Santa Clara.

Of the 216  graduates, 67 graduates received certificates in various areas of high-tech law; another 19 received certificates in public-interest and social-justice law; eight specialized in international law and 10 in privacy law.

Prior to the ceremony numerous outstanding graduates received awards, including:

• Natalie Parpos was the Mabie Outstanding Graduate Award based on academic performance, scholarly activities, leadership and service roles at the law school and in the community
• Jonathan 鈥淛ojo鈥� Choi received the Dean's Leadership Award for exemplifying the school鈥檚 motto of 鈥渓awyers who lead鈥� and serving other students, the school, and community
• Maya Younes received the John B. Bates, Jr. Dispute Resolution Award, established in 2017 and given in recognition of the student鈥檚 coursework, publications, performance, and service related to the field of dispute resolution.