Hassan Ahmed, Ph.D.
Hassan Ahmed was awarded the degree of Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa, on Thursday, June 19, 2025 in recognition of his distinguished career as an esteemed business leader and entrepreneur in wireless network technology and telecommunications.
Ahmed has founded or helped lead companies valued at over $43 billion. He currently serves as the Chair, CEO and co-founder of Sway AI.
Previously, he co-founded and served as Chair and CEO of Affirmed Networks. The company focused on anticipating the needs of wireless service providers to change business models as they restructured the architecture of their networks to meet the rise of smartphone use. It was acquired by Microsoft in April 2020.
He also served as Chair and CEO of Sonus Networks from its early beginnings to becoming a public company that led the transformation of global telecommunication networks to VoIP.
Ahmed is a Director at Ciena. He has been a Senior Advisor at Charles River Ventures and has served in various executive roles at Ascend Communications, Cascade Communications and Analog Devices.
He served as Associate Professor of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering and Associate Professor of Finance at Boston University. He has authored more than 50 professional publications.
Ahmed holds a Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering from Carleton University and earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University.