ITHACA, N.Y. -- Michael C. Ruettgers, executive chairman of EMC Corp., will speak at Cornell University Wednesday, Oct. 9, at 5 p.m. in Barnes Hall auditorium.

As CEO of EMC from 1992 to 2001, Ruettgers presided over enormous growth, driving the company to become the world leader in computer information storage systems. He was named one of the world's top 25 executives by Business Week and one of the best CEOs in America by Worth magazine. His company, which has built a reputation for being fanatically devoted to customer service, was named "world's most customer-centric company" in Fast Company magazine. Ruettgers' talk, "Managing Trust: The Acid Test of Leadership," is part of the Johnson Graduate School of Management Park Leadership Speaker series and is free and open to the public.

Under Ruettgers' leadership, EMC experienced nearly unrivaled revenue, profit and share-price growth. It grew more than 74-fold and, from 1990 to 2000, achieved the highest single-decade performance of any stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It now has 19,000 employees and finished 2001 with revenues of $7 billion.

In an interview in Harvard Business Review last year, Ruettgers gave details on how EMC repeatedly ventured into untested markets and, emphasizing timing and speed, ultimately transformed itself from a small maker of minicomputer memory boards into a data storage powerhouse. Among its innovations: staggered, rather than sequential, development of products; no excessive product refinements that might slow time-to-market; and learning from leading customers through forums with EMC engineers and real-time monitoring of product use.

An MBA graduate of Harvard, Ruettgers spent much of his early career at Raytheon, where he played a key role in the Patriot missile program, before joining EMC in 1988.

As part of his Cornell visit, Ruettgers also will meet with Johnson School students, faculty and top-level Cornell administrators in information technology. The lecture series is a component of the Park Leadership Fellows Program, which is supported by the Park Foundation of Ithaca.