2025

Zohreh Khademi

Zohreh Khademi is a Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, leading the Cloud Infrastructure Solutions & Services (CISS) function within the Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I) organization. CO+I harbors all Microsoft datacenters that operate the most reliable, trusted, safe and secure cloud infrastructure in the world, Microsoft Cloud.

During her 25 years at Microsoft, Zohreh has held various technical and leadership roles within Microsoft’s Product Development, Manufacturing and Supply Chain and Devices business groups. Previously, Zohreh headed Microsoft Flexible Design & Manufacturing + New Product Introduction (XDM+NPI.) The Flexible Design & Manufacturing (XDM) team works to enable portfolio growth, profitability, and scalability. The New Product Introduction (NPI) team manages all aspects of cross-group programs, including manufacturing design and product engineering. Leveraging her experience to lead hardware products from development to production, Zohreh applied those capabilities across the Devices portfolio, including products from Surface to Xbox and Accessories.

Zohreh has honed her product introduction expertise by rolling out first generation devices at Microsoft and bringing them to launch and high-volume manufacturing. Additionally, she has developed and implemented numerous new engineering capabilities, process technologies and new development operations models that optimize product innovation, including gross margins and efficiencies, design for quality manufacturing, and scalability while reducing costs.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Zohreh spent +10 years in various technical & engineering roles in the manufacturing and consumer products industries that specialized in automation and robotics.

Zohreh is a graduate of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA where she earned a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering. She also holds a Certificate in Microcomputer and Systems Networking from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Zohreh is the Microsoft Executive Sponsor for The University of Southern California and serves on the Engineering advisory boards.

Zohreh lives in the Seattle area with her husband and is a proud mother to three sons.

2024

Bill Jia

Bill Jia is the VP of Engineering at Google, Core Machine Learning and AI. In this role, he is leading an org to co-design AI software/hardware (e.g. TPU), build AI compiler and framework (e.g. JAX and TensorFlow), create AI training and inference software services, optimize AI developer experiences with tools and automation, and drive Google's AI efforts including Gemini from AI model research to production.

Prior to joining Google, Bill was the Senior VP of Engineering at Meta/Facebook, overseeing AI Infrastructure/Platform, Data Infra/Platform, Software Performance and Capacity Engineering, and Hardware Engineering. Bill also worked at Microsoft and was in charge of improving and optimizing various Microsoft online services.

He received dual BS degrees from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and received his MS degree from National University of Singapore. Bill obtained his PhD degree in Operations Research from the University of Southern California (USC) in 2007.

2023

Juan Perez

Juan Perez is CIO and EVP of Salesforce. He is responsible for the global IT organization and leads the company’s internal digital transformation to support growth and scale. Perez’s team supports the integration of new acquisition companies across the Salesforce ecosystem to streamline technology integration processes, and drives global operational efficiencies through the implementation of modern technologies, including analytics, automation, artificial intelligence, and security, among others.

Previously, Perez was Chief Information and Engineering Officer for UPS and a member of the UPS Executive Leadership Team, responsible for all technology and engineering functions. He was appointed to the role in 2017 after having served as CIO since 2016. He was a driving force behind UPS’s adoption of advanced analytics, and led the implementation of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, virtual assistants, and virtual reality solutions for driver training. He oversaw numerous technology systems that support the company’s financial, human resources, operations, customer service, and sales, and managed a $6 billion engineering and IT budget. He oversaw the Advanced Technology Group, charged with future operational technology strategy including robotics, autonomous transportation, and network optimization, and helped develop driver dispatch and navigation solutions aimed at improving service and efficiencies. Perez also led the largest automation and capacity expansion in the company’s recent history, He was also an executive advisor on diversity across the enterprise.

In 2013, Perez was recognized by Computerworld as a Premier 100 IT Leader. In 2015 and 2017, he was recognized as one of the top 100 Hispanic IT leaders by the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC). The Atlanta Telecom Professionals (ATP) awarded him with the 2015 Leadership Award. He was recognized in 2016 as a Top Latino Leader by the Council for Latino Workplace Equity. He was named CIO of the Year in 2017 by CIO Dive. In 2018, Perez was honored with the Distinguished Mexican award from the Mexican government for his personal and career achievements in the U.S. He was named 2018 CIO of the Year by the Georgia CIO Leadership Association in the Super Global category at its annual CIO of the Year® ORBIE® Awards. Perez was ranked 43 in the Latino Leaders Magazine 2020 list of the 101 Most Influential Latinos, and named to theboardiQ Hall of Fame LatinX | Hispanic Top 100 Honorees. In 2019, Perez received the Forbes CIO Innovation Award for his contributions in developing UPS’ Global Smart Logistics Network.

Perez holds a B.S. in industrial and systems engineering and an M.S. in computer and manufacturing engineering from the University of Southern California. He is a senior member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers and holds several professional certificates in project management, business administration, and IT management. He serves as a program evaluator for the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) and was a lecturer at USC for seven years, where he taught courses in engineering economy, quality control, industrial engineering, and operations management. In 2019, Perez was named a member of The Hershey Company’s board of directors, and is a member of the advisory boards for the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at UPS and the School of Business at Georgia Tech. Upon his retirement in 2022, UPS established the Juan Perez UPS Endowed Scholarship at the Viterbi School of Engineering at USC in support of Hispanic and female engineering students. Perez is an active member of his church and community.

2022

Dr. Wanda M. Austin

Dr. Wanda M. Austin is an American businesswoman who is internationally recognized for her work in aeronautics and systems engineering.  She is co-founder of MakingSpace, Inc, a systems engineering and leadership development consultant and motivational speaker.  She served as interim president of the University of Southern California for the 2018-2019 academic year, and led the institution through a crucial transition period.  She is the former president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation, an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the application of science and technology toward critical issues affecting the nation's space program.  From January 2008 until October 2016, Austin led the organization's 3600 employees and managed annual revenues of $950 million at 17 U.S. locations.  As the sixth president, she was the first woman and the first African American in the 57-year history of the organization. 

Austin served on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology until January 2017, advising the President of the United States in areas where an understanding of science, technology and innovation was key to forming effective U.S. policy.  Austin is a member of the Defense Science Board and the NASA Advisory Council.  She is an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a counselor of the National Academy of Engineering, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  She is a life trustee for the University of Southern California and on the Board of Directors for the Chevron Corporation, Virgin Galactic and Amgen.

Growing up in New York City, Austin attended The Bronx High School of Science, then earned a B.A. in mathematics from Franklin & Marshall College, M.S. degrees in systems engineering and mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from the University of Southern California.

Austin professional achievements and honors include the National Intelligence Medallion for Meritorious Service, the Air Force Scroll of Achievement, the National Reconnaissance Office Gold Medal, the AIAA Godard Astronautics Award, the Career Communications Group Black Engineer of the Year Award,  the Horatio Alger Award, the Bob Hope Distinguished Citizen Award, the National Defense Industrial Association Peter B. Teets Industry Award, University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award.  The University of Southern California awarded her its Distinguished Alumni Award, an honorary doctorate, and its highest honor, the Presidential Medallion.

2019

Daniel J. Epstein

Dan Epstein is the Executive Chairman and Founder of the ConAm Group headquartered in San Diego.  ConAm is among the top privately owned apartment management/ownership firms in the country and presently operates a total of approximately 55,000 apartments throughout the United States.  In addition to its management activities, ConAm is developing apartments and mixed-use projects in Seattle and Portland.

Dan serves on the USC Board of Trustees and is a member of the Executive Board.  He is on the executive committee of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Development and also serves on the advisory committee of the USC Viterbi School’s Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.  Recently Dan was awarded USC’s Asa V. Call Alumni Achievement Award.  In addition, Ernst & Young named him San Diego's Entrepreneur of the Year for the Real Estate Industry.  He graduated from USC in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering.