Dr. Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande
Chairman

Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande is Chairman, Tejas Networks as well as co-founder and chairman of Sycamore Networks, Inc.

Dr. Deshpande is an influential technology entrepreneur and visionary whose companies and ideas often reshape entire industries. Dr. Deshpande is also widely respected for his contributions to education and the greater community. Numerous business and industry publications in both the US and his native India have recognized Dr. Deshpande with awards. Dr. Deshpande is frequently invited to deliver keynote addresses at business, technology, education, and government conferences.

Dr. Deshpande serves as a member of the MIT Corporation, and his generous donations have made possible MIT's Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. The Deshpande Center was created to serve as a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship by supporting research and collaboration among entrepreneurs, young companies, and MIT students, alumni, and faculty.

Prior to co-founding Sycamore Networks, Dr. Deshpande was founder and chairman of Cascade Communications Corp. Between 1991 and 1997, Cascade grew from a one-person startup to a company with $500 million in revenue and 900 employees. In June of 1997, Cascade was acquired by Ascend Communications for $3.7 billion.

Prior to Cascade, Dr. Deshpande co-founded Coral Network Corporation in 1988. Previously, he served in various management positions for Codex Corporation, a subsidiary of Motorola. Before joining Codex, Dr. Deshpande taught at Queens University in Kingston, Canada.

Dr. Deshpande holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, an M.E. in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick in Canada, and a Ph.D. in Data Communications from Queens University in Canada.