2023 Master's Ceremony

Date: Friday, May 12, 2023
Time: 2:00-4:30 p.m. (doors open at 12:00 p.m.)
Location: The Palestra, 235 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA

Ceremony Livestream

Note: if you are unable to access YouTube, you can view the recording of this event via Panopto here.

Keynote Speaker

David Quattrone

David Quattrone is Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Cvent, a market-leading meetings, events and hospitality technology provider. David leads a technology and product team of over 1,600+ employees around the world. Under his leadership, the team continues to expand and elevate Cvent’s robust event marketing and management platform and deliver product enhancements that drive adoption, usability, and customer satisfaction across Cvent’s broad portfolio of products.

Cvent’s suite of products automate and simplify the event management lifecycle and maximize the impact of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events. Cvent powers millions of events for its 21,000+ customers worldwide, including 50% of the Fortune 500, while hotels and venues use Cvent’s supplier and venue solutions to win more group and corporate travel business through Cvent’s sourcing platforms.

As Co-founder, David helped guide Cvent through its early days in 1999 as a bootstrapped, self-funded operation; and has since led the company through a $17 million venture capital raise between 2000-2001; a $136 million growth equity investment in 2011; and an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CVT) in 2013 with a market capitalization of more than $1 billion. In November 2016, Cvent went private with Vista Equity Partners for $1.65 billion. Cvent has grown to 4,800+ employees and more than $600M in revenue, helping its tens of thousands of customers deliver billions of dollars in meetings business to hotels and venues annually. In December 2021, Cvent returned to the public markets on the Nasdaq (Nasdaq: CVT), driving an initial enterprise valuation of approximately $5.3 billion.

David is also the Board Chairman for the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship’s Board of Advisors at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. He also sponsors the Dingman Center’s annual ‘Pitch Dingman Competition,’ which provides students a Shark Tank-like opportunity to showcase their innovative inventions with local leaders for the potential to earn prize money to fund their budding ventures.

In 2022, David received multiple awards including Smart Meetings’ Catalyst Quantum Leap Award for his work in helping the industry adapt and evolve during the pandemic-driven digital transformation and the University of Maryland Alumni Excellence EnTERPreneur Award recognizing alumni whose companies are fearlessly disrupting their industries. Other awards include the Washingtonian Tech Titans 2022, 2021 and 2019; Stevie American Business Awards Founding Team of the Year 2020; Northern Virginia Technology Council 2019 Technology 100 List; and SmartCeo Executive Management Awards in 2015 and 2012.

David graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Management and Technology program, earning a BS in Electrical Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of Business, with concentrations in Strategic Management and Finance. David received his MBA from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Connect and Celebrate With Us!

Penn Engineering encourages our graduates and their families to post on social media using #PennEngineeringProud on Instagram and Twitter (there is also a webform for participation if attendees are not on social media) so that we can include your photos and messages in our celebrations. Participants can also view our social media wall.