Pepperdine University President Recognizes Palmer Luckey with the President’s Award for Excellence in Freedom

MALIBU, Calif. – Today, Pepperdine University President Jim Gash presented Palmer Luckey, the visionary entrepreneur behind Oculus and Anduril Industries, with the President’s Award for Excellence in Freedom. Gash presented the award during Luckey’s appearance before an audience of 400 at the President’s Speaker Series in Smothers Theatre at the University’s campus in Malibu.

Media assets are available here. A recording of the event is available here.

“Palmer, you have been a great defender of American values, and of freedom specifically, with not only your words but your actions,” Gash said as he gave Luckey the award. “We would all like to thank you for your immense efforts in ensuring—through unmatched innovation in defense technology—that ours is not the generation that sees freedom go extinct.“

Luckey stressed purpose as central to his work with Anduril.

“We’re not just trying to build cool stuff,” he said. "We’re doing it for a greater purpose, and we need to always remember that.”

“We are not a neutral company,” he went on. “We are taking sides. We are going to fight for the things that our country values, for the things that our allies around the world have in common. We are going to be building things for good.”

President Gash opened the conversation with a question about Luckey’s work in the early days of Oculus, inventing the first Rift prototype at age 19 from a trailer in his parents’ driveway. 

Luckey explained how he created the VR experience with Oculus by thinking ahead.

“I represent the ‘outside the system’ guy,” said Luckey. “I’m not going to work on the thing that’s here and now. I’m going to work on where I think it’s going.”

Gash asked Luckey about his journey into defense technology with Anduril Industries.

Luckey said he intended to “not just build a new company but rebuild what we used to have in this country as far as a national security capability.”

Switching topics, Gash asked Luckey about his 17-year side project, the ModRetro Chromatic portable gaming device, a clone of the Nintendo Game Boy Color that will be sold exclusively by GameStop.

“It’s manufactured in North America which is good because Anduril and I are both sanctioned by China and Russia,” quipped Luckey.

“Do you fear the power of AI?” Gash asked Luckey on behalf of a student.

“I fear people using AI for bad purposes,” said Luckey. “I’m not worried about more advanced AI being the problem. I’m worried about dumb AI being used by evil people.”

When asked about his greatest influence, Luckey mentioned Howard Hughes and Walt Disney because they were “huge supporters of the nation and built things on their own dime that the government didn’t think was possible.”

A student in the audience asked for Luckey’s advice on how to break into the defense industry. Luckey replied, “Work in a place where you will learn a variety of generally applicable skills to the real world.”

Before presenting Luckey with Pepperdine’s first Presidential Award for Excellence in Freedom, Gash asked Luckey what freedom means to him.

“Freedom is self-determination,” said Luckey, and stressed that it is vital at every level of society.

Gash invited the audience to the next President’s Speaker Series Oct. 31 at 4 PM, which will feature a conversation with Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma and Rick Caruso, Pepperdine Law School alumnus, and for whom the law school is named.

“At Pepperdine, we talk about things that matter,” said Gash. “This is a place where we relentlessly seek truth together.”
About 400 members of the Pepperdine community and friends of the university attended the event in Pepperdine’s Smothers Theatre in Malibu. The event was also live-streamed and remains available on the University’s YouTube and X accounts.

Pepperdine University’s President's Speaker Series welcomes distinguished scholars and thought leaders representing diverse points of view to examine topics and issues facing our communities and the world today. Driven by a desire to connect deeply with our community and inspire meaningful dialogue in the pursuit of truth, the series provides opportunities to cultivate an engaged and impassioned collective through civil discourse.

About Palmer Luckey
Palmer Luckey is the founder of defense technology company Anduril Industries, designer of the Oculus Rift virtual reality head-mounted display, and the founder of Oculus VR, which was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $2.3 billion.

In 2017 Palmer founded Anduril Industries to radically transform the defense capabilities of the United States and its allies by fusing artificial intelligence with the latest hardware advancements. At Anduril Palmer integrates a consumer technology business model with mission-driven objectives, enabling rapid product development and deployment, setting the company apart from other players in the defense industry.

His deep interest in defense technology was driven by his time at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies Mixed Reality Lab, where he built hardware used to research immersive treatment for US military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. He continued to support various military applications of virtual reality during his time at Oculus, informing his belief that radical modernization of US military technology is a prerequisite for preserving our way of life.

Palmer began attending Golden West College and Long Beach City College at the age of 14 and studied at California State University, Long Beach, before leaving the school to build Oculus VR.

About Pepperdine University
Founded in 1937, Pepperdine University is an independent, Christian university located 30 miles west of Downtown Los Angeles in scenic Malibu, California. The University enrolls approximately 10,300 students across its flagship liberal arts school, Seaver College; the Caruso School of Law; the Graziadio Business School; the Graduate School of Education and Psychology; and the School of Public Policy. Pepperdine is committed to the highest standards of academic excellence and Christian values, where students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership. Follow Pepperdine on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

 

Media Contact

Public Relations Office
pr@pepperdine.edu
818.702.1401