Full biography
Rod Adkins leads all of IBM’s global server and storage systems hardware and software development. He also leads the microelectronics business which includes semiconductor process technology development and semiconductor manufacturing operations for microprocessors and application specific integrated circuits used by IBM and its OEM clients.
Mr. Adkins has held a number of product development, business operations and general management positions since joining IBM in 1981. He has experience in Printers, Personal Computers, Servers, Storage and Software. Mr. Adkins has served as General Manager for Desktop Systems in Personal Systems Group; for UNIX systems in Server Group; and for Pervasive Computing in Software Group.
As a member of IBM's Performance and Technology Teams and the Board of Governors for the IBM Academy of Technology, Mr. Adkins helps drive IBM’s corporate and technical direction. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Executive Leadership Council (ELC), and National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). He is also a member of the board of directors for the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), the Smithsonian Institution and Pitney Bowes, Inc.
Mr. Adkins has been recognized as a leader in information technology – the 2007 Black Engineer of the Year, National Academy of Engineering election in 2005, Top Blacks in Technology since 2004, and Professional Achievement in Industry in 1996. In 2002, Fortune magazine named Mr. Adkins one of the 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America. He also earned the Golden Torch Award for Lifetime Achievement in Industry from NSBE in 2001.
Mr. Adkins earned a B.A. degree with emphasis in Physics from Rollins College as well as B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.
June 2009
