Full biography
Sam Palmisano is chairman of the Board of IBM and chair of IBM’s Executive Committee. Mr. Palmisano began his career with IBM in 1973 in Baltimore, Maryland. Since then, he has taken on a series of leadership positions during his IBM career, including senior vice president and group executive of the Personal Systems Group in 1997, senior vice president and group executive of IBM Global Services in 1998, senior vice president and group executive of Enterprise Systems in 1999, president and chief operating officer in 2000, chief executive officer in 2002 and chairman of the Board in 2003. He was president and chief executive officer through 2011.
Mr. Palmisano is a graduate of The Johns Hopkins University. In recognition of his leadership role as co-chair of the Council on Competitiveness’ National Innovation Initiative, as well as his many business accomplishments, Mr. Palmisano was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2005. In 2006, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the London Business School. Mr. Palmisano has received a number of business awards including the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Business Leadership Award in 2009 and the inaugural Deming Cup, presented in 2010 by the W. Edwards Deming Center for Quality, Productivity and Competitiveness at Columbia Business School. He is also an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
January 2012