Alumnus to Discuss His Career, Entrepreneurship, and the Economy

Troy, N.Y. — Dennis Tito, founder, president, and CEO of Wilshire Associates Inc., will participate in the Rensselaer Alumni Association Back-to-Campus Speaker Series at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14 at the Heffner Alumni House on Peoples Avenue.

The event is free and open to the public.

The speaker series lecture, titled “A Conversation with Dennis Tito,” will take place in the Heffner Alumni House’s Great Room. A reception will follow at 5 p.m. The event will be structured as an informal question-and-answer session between Tito and Denis Fred Simon, dean of Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management and Technology. The discussion will touch on such topics as entrepreneurship and innovation, Tito’s career, the economy, and corporate responsibility.

“Dennis Tito’s experiences exemplify the spirit of innovation that we encourage at Rensselaer,” said Simon. “He has a lot of wisdom and advice to offer our students and aspiring entrepreneurs. He is truly a shining example of what our graduates can become.”

Tito is world-renowned for building his large and extremely successful investment advisory company, which developed what is widely held to be Alan Greenspan’s favorite market indicator. He is also the first tourist to go to the International Space Station.

He received his bachelor’s degree in astronautics and aeronautics from New York University in 1962, and then earned his master’s degree in engineering science from Rensselaer at Hartford in 1964.