Named an Innovation Agent by Fast Company, James Truchard, president and CEO, cofounded National Instruments in 1976 and has pioneered the way scientists and engineers solve the world's grand engineering challenges.

As one of Forbes' America's Favorite Bosses, Dr. James Truchard, commonly known around NI as Dr. T, has led the company from a three-man team to a multinational organization recognized as a Fortune 100 Best Places to Work and one of the top 25 "World's Best Multinational Workplaces" by the Great Places to Work Institute.

Dr. Ben G. Streetman is Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, and held the Dula D. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering prior to his retirement in 2010. His primary area of scholarship is semiconductor materials and devices. After receiving the Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin (1966) he was on the faculty (1966-1982) of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He returned to The University of Texas at Austin in 1982. Dr. Streetman was Dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering from 1996 to 2008.

Archie W. Straiton (B.S. Electrical Engineering 1929; M.A. Physics 1931; Ph.D. Physics 1939) taught at UT Austin for nearly 50 years and helped found the Department of Electrical Engineering. He married Esther McDonald in 1932, and they had two daughters, Janelle Holman and Carolyn Erlinger, six grandchildren, and eleven great grandchildren. Dr. Straiton passed away on July 22, 2000.

Dr. Hector de Jesus Ruiz is a founder of Advanced Nanotechnology Solutions, Inc and serves as the company’s Chairman. A luminary in the field of technology for nearly three decades, he is an accomplished engineer, corporate strategist and chief executive.

B.S.E.E., 1978
Insurance Commissioner
State of California

Walter Williams McAllister, Sr., business, civic, and political leader, son of Frank William and Lena (Stumberg) McAllister, was born in San Antonio, on March 26, 1889. His grandfather, Samuel W. McAllister, who migrated from Kentucky to San Antonio before the Civil War, served as justice of the peace and judge of the Corporation Court of Bexar County. McAllister received his B.S. in electrical engineering in 1910 from the University of Texas. He was a charter member in 1919 and second president of the San Antonio Kiwanis Club, a Mason, and a thirty-third-degree Shriner.

B.S. EE 1982
Senior Vice President of Technologies, Apple Inc.

Bob Mansfield, senior vice president of technologies at Apple Inc., has spent three decades as a leader in the computer and consumer electronics industry.

W. Neal Kocurek earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph. D., degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.  While he was a student at UT, Kocurek was a member of Eta Kappa Nu (the engineering honor society), a member of the UT Friar Society, and President of the Silver Spurs.  He is Cockrell School Distinguished Engineering Graduate.