2006 Honorary Degree
H. Richard Lawson
Doctor Of Science
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He is currently the chairman of Lawson Software, a company he co-founded with his brother, Bill Lawson, and John Cerullo in 1975. He lives in Dallas, Texas.
Originally from Wichita, Kan., Lawson came to Purdue and earned his master's degree in computer science in 1968 after receiving a bachelor’s degree in mathematics two years earlier from Oklahoma Christian College (now University).
Lawson used knowledge he had gained at three levels (theory, principle and application) during his graduate school days at Purdue to help build one of the nation’s leading software companies. In 30 years, Lawson Software flourished into a $335 million company providing business software to large and mid-sized organizations in health care, retail, professional services, financial services and the public sector. By 2005 it had expanded to have offices on six continents, employing more than 1,300 people worldwide.
Using cutting-edge knowledge of computer science coupled with strong business acumen, Lawson built a software company that has approximately 3,000 clients, including five of the top 10 retailers based in the United States, eight of the top 20 apparel retailers and seven of the top 25 grocery chains.
He has been recognized frequently for his success, including being named by Ernst and Young as the Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002 and by Purdue as a Computer Science Distinguished Alumnus the same year.
Lawson has been extremely generous toward his alma maters. He and his wife Patricia donated $4.7 million to Purdue in 2003 for construction of the new computer science building that is due to open next fall. A year later, he and Patricia made a substantial donation of cash and stock to Oklahoma Christian, where he serves on the Board of Trustees. He is on the Dean’s Leadership Council for the College of Science at Purdue.