IBM CEO Rometty tapped as Northwestern commencement speaker

Northwestern University has named IBM Chairman and CEO Virginia Rometty as its commencement speaker for ceremonies taking place on Friday, June 19 at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill.

Rometty, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and electrical engineering from Northwestern, has been ranked number one in Fortune magazine's "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" for the last three years. In February, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

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Rometty was named CEO of IBM on Jan. 1, 2012 and has worked for Big Blue since 1981.

Last year Rometty delivered the commencement address at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

She is among several high profile tech industry executives named as commencement speakers for 2015. Others include Apple CEO Tim Cook, who will speak at George Washington University, US CTO Megan Smith, who will speak at MIT, and Elon Musk will be one of several speakers to address Stanford University graduates this spring. (Take our poll here or below to vote for which of these speakers you'd most like to hear.)