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Bob Parsons CEO of the worlds largest domain name registrar is now "Bob Parsons, D.H.L." - which is the formal reference to his honorary doctorate.
University of Baltimore President Robert Bogomolny officially presented Parsons with an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters last week. Parsons was "hooded" at this year's commencement ceremony before a standing-room only crowd of about 5,600 people packed into the Lyric Opera Theatre.
Parsons served as the keynote speaker for the ceremony in which more than 375 Yale Gordon School of Liberal Arts and Merrick School of Business students graduated. He was interrupted with cheers and laughter more than a dozen times during his fifteen minute address. A Baltimore Sun writer called Parsons' address "one of the most rousing of this commencement season." Others in attendance described it as "inspiring" and "refreshing."
"It was an absolute honor to speak to the students," Parsons said immediately following the ceremony.
Parsons is an alumnus who graduated magna cum laude with an accounting degree in 1979. He grew up in a working class neighborhood of Baltimore, flunked the fifth grade and attended Patterson High School (made famous by "Hair Spray"). He joined the U.S. Marines right out of high school and was awarded a Purple Heart. After returning home from Viet Nam, Parsons worked at a Baltimore steel mill before deciding to attend the University of Baltimore.
His "rags to riches tale," as it has been called, illustrates what many consider the quintessential American success story. His message to the students focused on having passion, never giving up and, most importantly, having fun.
"My little brother always told me, we're not here for a long time... we're here for a good time!" Parsons concluded with his trademark enthusiasm. All to the delight of the Baltimore crowd, including Parsons' mother, brother and sister.
Parsons founded GoDaddy.com which registers Web site addresses and is the world leader almost three times over. While he is a self-taught computer programmer honored for innovation and business savvy, he is perhaps best-known for his marketing genius made famous with his risqué 2005 Super Bowl ad. Since that time the media has written extensively about his knack for pushing censorship issues and generating controversy with his advertising year after year.
"I was kidding him about being Doctor Bob," said Barbara Rechterman who has worked with Parsons for more than 20 years and now serves as Go Daddy's executive vice-president of marketing. "We always thought he'd end up a doctor of censorship, or a Ph.D. in controversial sciences with a Masters in GoDaddy-esque studies," Rechterman joked.
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University of Baltimore President Robert Bogomolny officially presented Parsons with an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters last week. Parsons was "hooded" at this year's commencement ceremony before a standing-room only crowd of about 5,600 people packed into the Lyric Opera Theatre.
Parsons served as the keynote speaker for the ceremony in which more than 375 Yale Gordon School of Liberal Arts and Merrick School of Business students graduated. He was interrupted with cheers and laughter more than a dozen times during his fifteen minute address. A Baltimore Sun writer called Parsons' address "one of the most rousing of this commencement season." Others in attendance described it as "inspiring" and "refreshing."
"It was an absolute honor to speak to the students," Parsons said immediately following the ceremony.
Parsons is an alumnus who graduated magna cum laude with an accounting degree in 1979. He grew up in a working class neighborhood of Baltimore, flunked the fifth grade and attended Patterson High School (made famous by "Hair Spray"). He joined the U.S. Marines right out of high school and was awarded a Purple Heart. After returning home from Viet Nam, Parsons worked at a Baltimore steel mill before deciding to attend the University of Baltimore.
His "rags to riches tale," as it has been called, illustrates what many consider the quintessential American success story. His message to the students focused on having passion, never giving up and, most importantly, having fun.
"My little brother always told me, we're not here for a long time... we're here for a good time!" Parsons concluded with his trademark enthusiasm. All to the delight of the Baltimore crowd, including Parsons' mother, brother and sister.
Parsons founded GoDaddy.com which registers Web site addresses and is the world leader almost three times over. While he is a self-taught computer programmer honored for innovation and business savvy, he is perhaps best-known for his marketing genius made famous with his risqué 2005 Super Bowl ad. Since that time the media has written extensively about his knack for pushing censorship issues and generating controversy with his advertising year after year.
"I was kidding him about being Doctor Bob," said Barbara Rechterman who has worked with Parsons for more than 20 years and now serves as Go Daddy's executive vice-president of marketing. "We always thought he'd end up a doctor of censorship, or a Ph.D. in controversial sciences with a Masters in GoDaddy-esque studies," Rechterman joked.
More...
