TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — There’s actually a positive aspect to all of the drama involving chipmaker Nvidia—positive if you are concerned about the reputation of the University of Arizona. It turns out the new interim CEO of Nvidia is a graduate of the Eller College of Management.
NVidia Co-Founder Jensen Huang resigned after a series of news stories linked him to an affair with a possible Chinese spy, and to another affair with a coworker at Nvidia
Now the Nvidia board has chosen Chief Financial Officer Colette Hunter Kress to step in as at least interim CEO.
Her path toward leading one of the most valuable companies in the world began at U of A’s Eller College of Management where she earned a finance degree in 1989. She joined Nvidia in 2013.
Ian Sommer is working towards a Masters in Business Administration now. He says Colette Kress’ path from Eller to leading Nvidia confirms the idea that if you go to Eller, you go on to success.
“It's honestly extraordinary, it's very motivating to keep going, and it's honestly, it's very reassuring, you know, that you picked the right spot, It's almost every week that you find out, they actually went to Eller.”
Sommer says plenty of Eller graduates who went on to good jobs at great companies have been willing to have quick meetings with him as he looks ahead to his career after graduation.
He’s thinking maybe Colette Kress could find a few minutes to meet with him too.
“She might be on LinkedIn, and, uh, you know, that's how I've always reached out before is send a nice message being like, a fellow wildcat here, bear down, you know, I'm here also at Eller, you know, coffee chat's available if you have 15 minutes, that'd be awesome.”
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
