Tim Cook says diversity is key to Apple’s ‘magical’ products

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Tim Cook
Cook received a warm welcome from students at Auburn University.
Photo: Tim Cook/Twitter

Apple CEO Tim Cook made a visit to his old stomping grounds at Auburn University today to talk to students about life after after graduation.

During his morning speech at the Telfair Peet Theatre, the Auburn alum told students of all backgrounds to get ready to embrace diversity once they enter the workforce.

His talked was obviously titled “A Conversation with Tim Cook: A Personal View of Inclusion and Diversity.” Cook told students that both diversity and inclusion are keys to what makes Apple products great.

“We believe you can only create a great product with a diverse team. And I’m talking about the large definition of diversity. One of the reasons Apple products work really great – I hope you think they work really great – is that the people working on them are not only engineers and computer scientists, but artists and musicians. It’s this intersection of the liberal arts and humanities with technology that makes products that are magical.”

Cook emphasized that students will not only have to get used to working with people from other companies, in today’s global economy, workers will have to serve customers and users from across the globe.

Cook graduated from Auburn in 1982, earning a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering. He told students that diversity and inclusion should not only be appreciated, it should be celebrated.

“The thing that makes the world interesting is our differences, not our similarities.”

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