His Shutterstock pic

SEAS has just announced that Jon Oringer will give the SEAS Class Day 2014 keynote speech next month. Oringer is the creator of Shutterstock, the stock photo website that Bwog overuses, and is also an alumnus of SEAS, receiving  in 1998 his MS in Computer Science.

Last year, Robert Bakish, SEAS’85 and MBA’89, CEO of Viacom Int’l Media Networks, was the SEAS Class Day keynote speaker. Past speakers include Ursula Burns, Ralph Izzo, and Paul Brandt-Rauf. Dean Boyce says that he “is a wonderful example of the creative, entrepreneurial spirit we are fostering at Columbia Engineering.”

SEAS Class Day is on Monday, May 19 at 5 pm on the South Lawn, for both undergraduates and graduate students in SEAS; university-wide commencement is that Wednesday at 10:30 am, also on the South Lawn.

April 11, 2014—The leadership organizations of both undergraduate and graduate students at The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University are pleased to announce that alumnus Jon Oringer, founder and chief executive officer of Shutterstock Inc., will be the keynote speaker for Columbia Engineering’s Class Day ceremony, which will be held on May 19, 2014. The Engineering Senior Class Council, representing undergraduates, and the Engineering Graduate Student Council, representing MS, PhD, and professional degree students, jointly selected Oringer as their graduation speaker during the school’s sesquicentennial year.

Oringer, who earned his BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from Stony Brook University in 1996, and completed his MS in Computer Science from the Engineering School in 1998, created Shutterstock, the leading provider of stock imagery worldwide, in 2003 using thousands of his own digital photographs. Since taking Shutterstock public on the NYSE in 2012, he has grown the company to over 300 employees and more than $200 million in annual revenue. Today, Shutterstock features over 35 million stock images supplied by a global network of artists and photographers looking to license their work.

“Jon Oringer is a wonderful example of the creative, entrepreneurial spirit we are fostering at Columbia Engineering,” says Mary C. Boyce, dean and Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor at the School. “He has been able to harness his passion for photography, his expertise in data management, and his business knowledge to create a successful company that nurtures a vibrant community of photographers and artists, while meeting the needs of a demanding new market. I think he is a great role model for our students and we are excited to have him as our Class Day speaker.”

Oringer founded nearly a dozen software companies and is passionate about data-driven businesses and disruptive technologies. In 2009, the New York Native was selected 41st on the Silicon Alley 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential entrepreneurs, investors, executives, and technologists in Manhattan. In 2013, Business Insider named him the number one coolest person in all of New York technology. In June 2012, he was recognized as New York’s Technology Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, and in March 2013, Oringer was recognized as one of Crain’s class of 2013 40 Under 40. Oringer is also a certified commercial helicopter pilot.

Image via Shutterstock