Joel B. Seligstein (’06)

During his time at UT, Joel Seligstein enrolled in honors coursework, declared two majors, and landed a job that allowed him to graduate ahead of schedule. He graduated summa cum laude from the Tickle College of Engineering with a degree in computer science in 2006. After graduation, the software engineer went to work for a small social media company named Facebook. There he managed the development of several major software projects as the company grew from 15 million to more than one billion users. He is widely recognized for leading the team that developed Facebook Messenger, which allows friends to send messages to one another in the manner of texting.

In 2014, Seligstein founded A# Capital Startup Investing, through which he has supported and coached many entrepreneurs on taking their products to market. In 2016, he created Parallel Plaid, a studio that creates games for mobile devices.

Outside of his work interests, he participates in his favorite hobby as a member of the Israel National Bobsled and Skeleton Team. He competed for the team in the ISBF World Championships in 2019 and hopes to one day qualify for the Winter Olympics.

At UT, a faculty office in the Min H. Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building was named in honor of Seligstein’s generosity, and Seligstein serves on the Tickle College of Engineering’s Board of Advisors and UT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Industry Advisory Board.