Students had the opportunity to listen to stories and advice from the third richest individual in the world last Friday when Bill Gates spoke at Kane Hall for the final stop of his “Bill Gates Unplugged” tour.

“For the University of Washington, there are few families that are more close to us than the Gates family,” said UW President Mark Emmert as he introduced Gates to the packed audience in the Kane auditorium. “We are honored that he saved the best for last.”

Also in attendance were Gates’ father, mother and two sisters, who were introduced by Emmert as former UW students.

Several times throughout his presentation, Gates highlighted the UW and its importance to Microsoft and the ambitions of the Gates Foundation.

“Microsoft has a commitment to long-term research here at UW,” Gates said. “But the ambition behind the grants that we give is more important than their size.”

Microsoft recruits most of their top talent from the UW, Gates said.

“We currently pull about a hundred employees a year from UW, and we would like that number to be even greater,” Gates said.

The majority of Gates’ presentation dealt with his transition from working full time as the head of Microsoft to devoting his time and effort to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an organization that focuses on innovations in health and learning in the global community.

Gates continually stressed the importance of innovation and investment in higher education since research groups at universities are key to making progress in software development.

After the presentation was complete, microphones were opened up to the audience for a question and answer segment.

Several UW students asked questions pertaining to his success and passion, but many students asked specific questions relating to their fields of study, ranging from business to computer engineering and medicine.

UW junior Michael Ratanapintha, a computer engineering major, asked Gates about his work in public health.

“I think he had some really good things to say,” Ratanapintha said. “He really brought home the idea that you can succeed by taking risks, and his overall confidence really got through to me.”

Gates closed by thanking those in the audience for their time and enthusiasm.

“What my generation was able to accomplish in the past 30 years pales in comparison to what today’s generation will be able to do,” he said

In the end, the presentation was summed up by Emmert’s closing statement: “It’s hard to imagine anyone from our community having a greater impact — period.”

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