Omid Kordestani, Google’s senior vice president of global sales & business development, has made a generous $3 million donation to his alma mater, San Jose State University’s College of Engineering. His gift will establish an endowed chair to support faculty teaching in multidisciplinary programs at the college.
In Forbes recent list of worldwide billionaires, Kordestani was indicated as being worth $2.1 billion and the 458th most richest person in the world.
Kordestania was born in Iran in 1963, and moved to San Jose in 1979, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1984. He later earned a master’s degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1991.
He has more than 20 years of experience in the high-tech consumer and enterprise arenas, and has held several key positions at start-ups including Netscape Communications, where he worked from 1995 to 1999. Prior to his stint at Netscape, Kordestani held positions in business development, product marketing, and marketing at the 3DO Company, Hewlett-Packard, and Go Corporation.
Kordestani joined Google in 1999, bringing Google to profitability in record time. As the senior VP of global sales and business development, he is charged with keeping the company profitable.
San Jose University, the recipient of Kordestani’s endowment, is a leading provider of engineers to Silicon Valley area companies. More than 5,000 students are enrolled annually in the school’s undergraduate and graduate programs.
