Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has announced that Dr. Darío Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research, has joined the RPI Board of Trustees for a four-year term effective January 1, 2024. He will sit on the Academic Affairs and Research Committee and Administration and Infrastructure Committee.

Dr. Gil is responsible for IBM Research, one of the world’s largest and most influential corporate research labs, with over 3,000 researchers. He is the 12th director in its 78-year history. He leads the technical community of IBM, directing innovation strategies in hybrid cloud, AI, semiconductors, quantum computing, and exploratory science. He is also responsible for the company’s intellectual property strategy and business.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Darío Gil to the Board,” said John E. Kelly III ’78G, ’80 Ph.D., D.H.L. (Hon.), chair of the RPI Board of Trustees and retired IBM Executive Vice President. “I have known Darío for many years and am continually impressed by his forward-thinking intellect, his incredible drive, and his ability to get things done. He will make an exceptional addition to the board.”

“We were so grateful to have Darío join us at the groundbreaking for our new IBM Quantum System One earlier this fall,” said Martin Schmidt, president of RPI. “IBM has been a longstanding partner with us for many, many years and I have no doubt Darío will bring fantastic insights and innovative thinking to our board. Our students and researchers will benefit greatly from his leadership.”

Dr. Gil is a globally recognized leader of the quantum computing industry. Under his leadership, IBM was the first company in the world to build programmable quantum computers and make them universally available through the cloud. RPI is the world’s first university to house the IBM Quantum System One.

An advocate of collaborative research models, Dr. Gil co-chairs the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, which advances fundamental AI research to benefit industry and society. He also co-chairs the Executive Board of the International Science Reserve, a global network of open scientific communities that provides specialized resources to prepare for and help mitigate urgent, complex global challenges.

Dr. Gil has served on the President’s Council of Science and Technology Advisors and is a current member of the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation. He also serves on the President's Research Council of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the MIT School of Engineering Dean's Advisory Council, and the Aspen Global Cybersecurity Group.

Dr. Gil serves on the boards of the Semiconductor Industry Association, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the New York Academy of Sciences, the New York Hall of Science, and Research!America.

He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT.