COMMENCEMENT with Rob Adams 1
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1. ROB ADAMS SPEAKING AT COMMENCEMENT 2023 2. ROB ADAMS (FAR LEFT) AT HIS OWN DELPHIAN GRADUATION CEREMONY IN 1991
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his year’s commencement speaker was Rob Adams, who graduated from Delphian in 1991. Since then, he’s spent over three decades helping build new titles for some of the world’s most successful gaming entertainment companies. After graduating from Delphian, he went on to work at the original Atari, where he witnessed firsthand the disruptive power of new technology on a fragile industry. After surviving the collapse of the US arcade business, he went on to lead the art teams that built Need for Speed and Uncharted for PlayStation. He then helped design Halo, a best-selling science fiction media franchise. And, for the past ten years, he’s been leading the teams who create Destiny, which has been played by over 80 million people, with several million playing each day. You might be as shocked as I was to learn the electronic gaming industry now generates about three times more revenue than the music and film industries combined, with teams as large as 2000 working on a single title. One way or another, throughout his career, Rob has always found himself in mentorship roles. And a good mentor is always learning. He describes his job as pure servant leadership, enabling his team to consistently build the best visuals in the industry, year after year. Over the past five years, he’s helped Bungie, the American video game company, to design an industry-leading “live service content model” for games, making their business not only profitable but PAGE 22
“You aren’t just students; you’re experts at studying, able to confront and learn any subject quickly.” stable due to more consistent player engagement. And last year, his company was acquired by Sony for 3.6 billion in the hopes that Bungie would mentor Sony’s development studios on how they do their business at scale. And so, the teaching continues. This is my first Parents Weekend as a Delphian parent and not as a Delphian student, and the past few days have been absolutely amazing. We’re so happy to see this program helping our two teenagers. I can definitely relate, on some level, to the pride the parents of these graduates must be feeling today. Leadership is one of four words on the Delphian logo, as you all know. Graduates, wherever you go you’ll be leaders. I want to talk to you about leadership, and some of the lessons I’ve learned that I hope will help you as leaders. It’s not easy to be a leader today; things are changing rapidly.