Keith J. Krach 

Keith J. Krach earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1979 and an honorary doctorate in 2018. Upon graduation, he joined General Motors, where he quickly became the youngest vice president in company history, at 26. While at GM, Krach co-founded GMF Robotics, which later became the world's largest supplier of industrial robots. In 1987, Krach left GM to pursue opportunities in Silicon Valley. There, he co-founded Ariba and served as the company’s CEO and chairman from 1996 to 2003. Under his leadership, Ariba surpassed a market capitalization of $40 billion in 2000. Krach later served as chairman and CEO of DocuSign, during which time the company exceeded the $40 billion market cap milestone. Krach also has been actively involved in academia and public service. He was chairman of Purdue's Board of Trustees from 2007 to 2013. In 2019, the U.S. Senate confirmed his appointment as under secretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment. Krach currently is chairman of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue, which he co-founded. His achievements have received wide recognition, including a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. Purdue presented Krach with an Outstanding Industrial Engineer Award in 2000 and a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award in 2006.