Apple CEO Tim Cook to Deliver Commencement Address at MIT

Apple CEO Tim Cook is delivering the commencement address at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cook is scheduled to address graduates and their families Friday morning.

Cook has been chief executive at Apple since 2011, overseeing the rollout of the iPhone 7 and the Apple Watch. He previously served as chief operating officer and headed the Macintosh division.

MIT President L. Rafael Reif says Cook was selected to be commencement speaker for his "brilliance as a business leader, his genuineness as a human being and his passion for issues that matter to our community."

Actor Matt Damon was MIT's commencement speaker last year.

Another tech luminary that recently delivered a commencement address was Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who returned last month to Harvard where he launched Facebook and then dropped out, telling graduates it's up to them to bring purpose to the world, fight inequality and strengthen the global community.

"Change starts local. Even global changes start small - with people like us," the Facebook CEO said. He shared stories about graduates such as David Razu Aznar, a former city leader who led the effort to legalize gay marriage in Mexico City, and Agnes Igoye, who grew up in conflict zones in Uganda and now trains law enforcement officers.

"And this is my story too," Zuckerberg added. "A student in a dorm room, connecting one community at a time, and keeping at it until one day we can connect the whole world."