Apple CEO Tim Cook will be the 2019 Commencement speaker at Stanford University on Sunday, June 16th.
“Tim Cook has spoken forcefully of the challenges and responsibilities confronting corporations and our society today,” said Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne in a statement. “In tackling these, he has led with vision and values – qualities that reflect the culture of our Stanford community, and that are top-of-mind for our students and our country. Tim was a natural choice to challenge and encourage our graduates as they leave our campus and find their own paths in the world.”
“We are excited and humbled to have Tim Cook as the 2019 Stanford Commencement speaker,” said Stanford Senior Class Presidents Tashrima Hossain, Nick Peña, Tony Moller and Aron Tesfai in a statement. “As a pioneer of Silicon Valley, his life is devoted to issues deeply intertwined with the Stanford community. 
“It’s an honor to have been invited by Stanford’s students and faculty, and I look forward to deepening the remarkable relationship that Stanford and Apple have built together over many years,” Cook said in a statement. “We share so much more than geography. The passion, interests and creativity our institutions have in common have helped to revolutionize technology and reshape the world, and I can’t wait to join graduates, as well as their family and friends, in celebrating the even brighter possibilities of the future.”
The ceremony will be held in Stanford Stadium on Sunday, June 16. More information is available on Stanford University’s Commencement Weekend website here.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course, Cook is the second Apple CEO to deliver a Stanford commencement address, following Steve Jobs’ famous 2005 address.
As always, Cook is faced with an impossible act to follow. He inherited a pair of shoes that are simply impossible to fill. Alas, that’s Tim’s lot in life. Fortunately for him, he’s very well compensated for having to endure a lifetime of runner-up status. He knew this going in, of course.
Regardless of the “tough compare,” good luck, Tim! Deliver the second-best Stanford University commencement address in history this June!
SEE ALSO:
LeBron James had the Cavaliers watch Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address for inspiration– June 21, 2016
Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address ‘a remarkable event’ – June 23, 2005
Full text of Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address available – June 15, 2005
Less “speeches” and more “productivity” for the company you are in charge of. You are already neglecting your loyal customer base, basic customer base and tech critic; I wonder if that same neglect carries over to the talent people that surround you that you consistently allow to under-perform on YOUR watch!!!! Maybe you should focus on Apple and less on speeches at this current time Tim.
What a fucking joke.
When is Mr. Cook going to “deliver” some real iMac and MacPro updates?
(otherwise same as 7thheavnband)
A significant communication problem that Cook has is that he uses too many words to make a point which waters down the message, and he talks like an apparatchik with caveats and sub-topics. IOW, he drones on. I suggest that Apple is run in a sluggish way right now in the manner of his speech pattern.
Bernie Sanders would make a good Apple spokesperson because, while, yes, he can talk a long time, he makes each point clean and crisp. Trump changes his mind too much.
So Cook is like you, Dingler, ye who uses too many words too often?
Agree. I’ve been noticing it over quite some time.
One of the strong, if not the strongest, reasons seemed to me that he really did not know what he was talking about, or what point to make. It’s very hard to make out exactly what message he wanted to convey.
Zingers. He needs to spice up his key points with zingers. Zingers add emotion. They tweak the listener to produce an elevated response. Jobs did that so well and, as you say, Jobs could do it effectively because he knew the underlying technology and also knew the apposition’s technology. That’s why Cook needs a speech writer, a specialist for this one thing, who can produce effective zingers that burrow down into what’s going on.
Zingers just like the ones I am famous for. I mean, my thesaurus-like vocabulary ensures a mellifluously serendipitous journey through the entrails of my mind’s eye, into which I allow fellow MDN readers to burrow down into and turn into cute and effective thought bubbles, much like dung beetles take the valuable excrement and turn it into beautiful balls of former energy.
Then, a zinger. My most famous zinger harkens to an earlier time when our fellow man and, to be woke and not to be #metoo sexist in the slightest, fellow woman, respected culture and the arts, and treated its majestic practitioners with the respect once afforded to doctors, pilots, teachers, accountants, lawyers surgeons and salesmen of lovingly previously used shoes and vehicles.
Yes, my most famous and yet astonishingly humble zinger is one that is a universal symbol of sheer achievement and creativity, done with great humility for our fellow #metoo respecting man and woman.
It is one that restore faith in what it means to be human, and points toward the redemption of human-kind in the eyes of God, Marx and our new angel from above, the AoC herself.
It is, quite simply, when you see me note that I, who thinketh, therefore I am, is the eternal servant of man and woman-kind when I utterly sincerely, humbly and zingerishly note that I am, through great personal sacrifice…
John Dingler, artist.
All these products were years ahead of their rivals:
IPhone vs rivals
MacOs vs Windows 8
SIRI vs other A.I
Apple Advertising campaigns like Think Different vs rivals
etc
After years of Tim Cook what have we got? Leads Gone (for the iPhone check out the notchless S10 and the 3 cameras on phones released last year half the XR price . The iPhone started with a 5 year tech lead) A lot more speeches from the CEO, expensive furniture, designer door handles , a Diamond Ring, Coffee Table book , a fruit farm and videos of Campus. Cafeteria doors.
With the stock down I really really didn’t want to bash Cook but he doesn’t seem to get it. The Mac anniversary was left with nothing except a tweet, no anniversary videos, not even cheap web ads , no statement from Ahrendts or Schiller, no store promotions, not even a banner on their webpage, MP, iMac still delayed and he goes makes speeches.
the Mac anniversary i was referring to was the Mac’s 35th anniversary a few weeks ago
I know down voters hate me because I criticized an iPhone.
I’m an investor and a iPhone, mac, iPad Pro user.
seriously don’t people think Apple could have say come up with a 3 Camera phone LAST year ? It’s really hard to sell a phone like XR with one back camera when rivals way cheaper have 3 back camera arrays. They should also have had a small iPhone. This is simple fact and sales data of stalled iPhone sales prove it.
Also with stock way down not maxing the sales opportunities of something like the Mac, their second biggest products, 35th anniversary is crazy (no promotions, no video, no ads, not even interviews from Cook, Schiller, Ahrendts or Ive which would have cost them nothing).
Looking at the facts you can’t not criticize Cook’s leadership.
With stock down, revenues down, guidance cut first time in years, one of the lowest PE stocks on the S&P and there seems to be NO URGENCY (see Mac anniversary , still missing MP, iMac updates, real Phone innovations etc) with Apple management.
Stock down, revenues down? Your complaint aged well. Not.
Maybe Tim will inspire those students and announce the new Mac Pro!
I’ll bet the poignancy and poetry will be on the same level as Steve Job’s 2005 commencement address to Stanford.
(Ahem)
If one isn’t familiar with Steve’s address, it’s well worth your time on youtube.
A lot of people spend a lot of time hitting on Cook. They appear to forget that Steve Jobs spent a lot of time working with Cook and understood his abilities to be CEO.
He even had that 6 month period where Cook was acting CEO. I’ll go with Steve’s judgement – he knew both the company and the man. And he knew both better than any of us can.
Mired in intensely humble humility where my thoughts were filled with the incredible achievements of the United Nations, and those of our astonishingly stupendous forty-fourth president, I hadn’t considered that Ken.
It is with bursting pride and admiration that I bestow upon the the honor of suggesting that henceforth, and forthwith, you may commence referring to youself and identifying yourself as a true and righteous servant of the people, with the simple yet poignant and yet zingerish observation that you are now…
Ken, artist.
Ken, assuming you were responding to the post above yours, I’d suggest an on-topic reply (oratory/speech) would be more fitting. For fun, let’s compare the two speeches post Cook’s.
Though I’m not a betting man, I wager the impact of SJ’s words will dwarf those of Cook’s. Cook is hardly a wordsmith and per my opinion, his words during Apple events would be best spoken by someone else in leadership. Bromides and contrived excitement are par for him.
Tim truly is
Timothy D. Cook, artist
You truly are a great man, John. It is an honour to read your wise thoughts, thank you for sharing them with us.
Where can we find samples and fine works of your art?
Samuel Jr
Yes please do tell us where we can enjoy your art, John
You are all too, too kind, and I am truly Honored to be recognised for my small talents.
Here is one of the works that describes me best, I am very proud of the true creation needed to bring this to life. It is a defining moment of my life, my magnum opus:
“They appear to forget that Steve Jobs spent a lot of time working with Cook and understood his abilities to be CEO.”
I keep reading this idea you postulate that all Jobs hires are somehow immune to criticisms.
But remember Jobs ALSO hired Forstall (lead in iOS, OSX)
Cook fired Forstall, so obviously Cook didn’t think like you do that everybody Jobs hired was immune or that they perform great forever.
The only other reason Forstall could have been fired if not for underperformance is that Cook made a mistake!
So which is it?
Jobs also hired Ron Johnson , Apple Retail, who went to work for JC Penny which fired him.
Hired Tony Fadell (iPod) and who was kicked out of Google later.
Hired Rubinstein who became head of Palm. Palm went extinct.
ETC.
It’s not whether people criticize this or that , rather people should see whether the critic actually has some factual points.
If you disagree with the arguments FACTUALLY refute them, don’t just blanket “everybody Jobs hired is great” etc.
I have decided to change my name by deed poll. Henceforth I am now known as…
John Zingler, artist
Precisely for these reasons you cited, I always thought that Steve Jobs regarded him as an iCEO (interim CEO as Jobs once called himself :-), just a steady operational hand to sustain the operation with no wave making. I just cannot imagine Jobs was looking to Cook to lead Apple to the future. As soon as Tim Cook took over the reign, one of the first (and fast) thing he did was to fire Scott Forstall, the real candidate in Job’s mind as many people believe. He had what Apple needed and the closest person to Jobs and his dream, as I read many materials.
He was fired immediately by Tim Cook, reportedly for the conflict with Jony Ive. I can see why a person like Forstall did not acknowledge Ive as a really talented person, and could easily imagine they got into design issues at every turn of the events. Ive ran into his buddy of the old cozy lazy club and cried over the shoulder of the iCEO Tim Cook, who swiftly fired Scott to make Ive win and happy. Watching how Tim Cook performed since then, I even more firmly believe this was what had happened. Sorry, Mr.Cook but I am speaking my mind….
This was meant as a response to Ken’s post way above wherein he said
“A lot of people spend a lot of time hitting on Cook. They appear to forget that Steve Jobs spent a lot of time working with Cook and understood his abilities to be CEO.
He even had that 6 month period where Cook was acting CEO. I’ll go with Steve’s judgment – he knew both the company and the man. And he knew both better than any of us can.”
Maybe he knew Tim’s pipeline better than any of us ever knew…