The corporate sector has taken up the call to support STEM education — by funding enriching opportunities for students to study and stick with the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math — and Broadcom is no exception.
Broadcom Chief Executive Scott McGregor was recently included on a list of the top 100 CEO leaders in STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology and Math) — a distinguished group of execs that are frontrunners in promoting education in these important subjects. He was in good company. Others on the list hailed from big-name tech companies, including Google, Facebook, AT&T, Cisco and Texas Instruments.
CEOs were chosen for inclusion on the list based on three primary criteria – the CEO’s own background, the company’s relative STEM strength and the company’s real-world STEM efforts. The list was compiled by the non-profit STEMconnecter, a STEM information resource for corporations and other organizations.
McGregor, who serves as president and sits on the board of Broadcom Foundation, sees the company’s efforts around STEM as an investment in the future. 
“Unlike any other nation in the world, the United States’ system of governance, education and business historically rewards innovation – this is our greatest advantage as a competitor in a global economy,” McGregor told STEMconnector.
See STEMconnector’s full list of 100 CEO Leaders in STEM (PDF)
McGregor, who joined Broadcom in 2005, was an ideal candidate for the list. He has a background in engineering and holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Stanford University. Broadcom itself is big on research and development, with about 77 percent of Broadcom’s more than 11,500 employees working as engineers, many with doctorate-level training.
McGregor emphasized that the skills gained by studying STEM subjects are important to nearly every profession, from traditional trades to research. And encouraging young people to stick with those subjects throughout high school, college and beyond can lead to a rewarding, competitive career track.
“Broadcom is especially concerned that there is an abundant stream of students who continue their studies in math and science through high school,” McGregor told STEMconnector.
That’s one of the main goals if the Broadcom Foundation’s flagship program, the Broadcom MASTERS science and engineering competition. Its aim is to get middle school students interested in science and engineering at the key point where their childhood imaginations and curiosity meet the math and research skills needed to complete ambitious science fair research projects.
Broadcom Foundation and its partner, the Society for Science & the Public, are gearing up for the 2013 MASTERS competition and are set to announce semifinalists and finalists next month.
McGregor, for his part, is looking toward the future.
“We understand our future success depends not only on industry-leading innovations, but on our commitment to being a responsible global citizen who produces products that help to improve the quality of life for future generations,” he said.
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