Full biography
Rod Adkins is IBM’s senior vice president of Corporate Strategy. He is responsible for leading continuous transformation across IBM and developing strategies that are linked to execution plans for a new era of computing, new markets and new clients.
Rod was previously senior vice president of Systems and Technology Group, a position he held since 2009. In this role he was responsible for all aspects of IBM’s semiconductor, server, storage, and system software businesses, as well as the company’s Integrated Supply Chain and Global Business Partners organizations. Previously he was senior vice president of STG development and manufacturing, a position he held since 2007. In his over 30-year career with IBM, Mr. Adkins has held a number of development and management roles, including general manager positions for the PC Company, UNIX Systems and Pervasive Computing.
Inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2005, Mr. Adkins is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council, and the National Society of Black Engineers, which in 2001 awarded him the Golden Torch Award for Lifetime Achievement in Industry. In 2011, Black Enterprise magazine chose Mr. Adkins as its Corporate Executive of the Year, and in 2002, Fortune magazine named Mr. Adkins one of the 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America.
He serves on the national board of the Smithsonian Institution and is on the board of directors for Pitney Bowes, Inc and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. Mr. Adkins also serves on the Georgia Tech Board of Trustees, Rollins College President's Leadership Council, University of Maryland Baltimore County Board of Visitors, and the University of Miami College of Engineering Visiting Committee.
Mr. Adkins holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with an emphasis in physics from Rollins College, Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
April 2013