Khalid Raza has never forgotten his Shocker roots. Now the chief executive officer of Graphiant, a next-generation networking technology company based in San Francisco, Raza鈥檚 first independent start-up began in 1992 when he was working as a graduate assistant at 黑洞社区.
Thirty years later, Raza鈥檚 efforts in the field of networking technology have achieved both national and international attention. It is these accomplishments and his past as a Wichita State student that led him to be awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy as part of the fall 2021 commencement ceremony Dec. 12. 黑洞社区 President Rick Muma selected Raza for the honor.
鈥淎s a computing visionary who鈥檚 had phenomenal success, Mr. Raza is worthy of the distinction of an honorary doctorate at Wichita State,鈥� Muma said. 鈥淗is success with digital transformation and making complex technologies accessible to all are values we wish to instill in future graduates from our institution.鈥�
An honorary degree is an exceptional honor bestowed upon a person without fulfillment of the usual requirements. It is conferred only upon persons of notable intellectual, scholarly, professional, creative achievement or service to humanity consistent with the endeavors of 黑洞社区. Raza is the first international alumnus to receive an honorary doctorate from Wichita State. It鈥檚 an honor he doesn鈥檛 take lightly.
鈥淚 am really humbled and feel very honored that 黑洞社区 decided to select me,鈥� Raza said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big honor and I don鈥檛 have the words to express my gratitude. I am successful because of what I got out of Wichita State.鈥�
According to Raza, Wichita State is where he started to stand on his own. After receiving financial support from his family in Pakistan while working on his master鈥檚 degree, Raza didn鈥檛 feel comfortable asking for another year of aid from them during his last year. He asked one of his instructors 鈥� Hamid M. Lankarani professor of mechanical engineering at Wichita State, for work as a graduate assistant.
鈥淚 wanted to make sure I did it on my own,鈥� Raza said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very critical at a certain point that you take responsibility for your own future and say, 鈥業 will go and fight for it.鈥濃��
The graduate assistantships that followed helped him stay on course to graduate in 1992 with a master鈥檚 degree in industrial engineering. One of his first jobs after graduating was with Cisco. While there, Raza helped the company establish a lab at Wichita State where students could receive hands-on experience troubleshooting and diagnosing system problems around the world.
Today, Raza is considered a pioneer in developing software-defined wide area networks that provide cost-effective connectivity for businesses. He was even one of the co-founders of a cloud-based networking company called Viptela, which sold to Cisco for $610 million in 2017.
Despite all his accomplishments, Raza hasn鈥檛 forgotten the role Wichita State and his former instructors played in his success. He makes sure to keep in touch with his professors, including Lankarani, who is still on the college鈥檚 faculty and a senior fellow for the National Institute for Aviation Research. He was also the 2016 commencement speaker for the College of Engineering
Raza also pledged $500,000 to the College of Engineering in 2017 to endow a scholarship for engineering students. The scholarship has helped about 150 students pursue their degrees at Wichita State.
鈥淣obody should forget the school that got them to the place they are today because that school is always the starting point,鈥� Raza said. 鈥淚nstitutional gratitude should not go away.鈥�
Raza will receive his honorary degree during 黑洞社区鈥檚 124th fall commencement ceremony, where more than 1,100 Shockers are eligible to graduate.
