Samuel Palmisano also to receive honorary doctorate in humane letters

Troy, N.Y. —  Samuel Palmisano, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the IBM Corporation, will deliver a Presidential Lecture titled “Innovation and Leadership in the 21st Century,” on Thursday, September 15, at 3:30 p.m., in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies auditorium, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In a ceremony prior to the lecture, Palmisano will be awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from the Institute.

Palmisano, a leader in innovation, is co-chairman of the Council on Competitiveness National Innovation Initiative (NII). Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson is a NII principal committee member. Palmisano delivered the keynote address at a NII regional summit hosted by Rensselaer in September 2004. In December 2004, the group of business, academic, and labor leaders unveiled a comprehensive proposal to spur innovation in the United States, and in July 2005 members of the United States Senate outlined a proposed federal initiative based on the NII recommendations.

Palmisano was elected chairman of IBM in October 2002, effective Jan. 1, 2003, and has served as chief executive officer since March 2002. Prior to his appointment, he was president and chief operating officer. He has held a number of key leadership positions during his IBM career, including senior vice president and group executive for IBM’s Enterprise Systems Group, where he led IBM’s adoption of the Linux operating environment, as well as the launch of the company’s unified eServer family. Prior to that, he was senior vice president and group executive for IBM Global Services, with responsibility for the worldwide operations of the largest and most diversified IT services organization in the industry.

He has served as senior vice president and group executive for IBM’s Personal Systems Group; led IBM’s strategic outsourcing business; and was president of the Integrated Systems Solutions Corp. (ISSC), an IBM wholly owned subsidiary, and now part of IBM Global Services. Before joining ISSC, Palmisano was IBM senior managing director of operations for IBM Japan. He joined IBM in 1973 in Baltimore, Md.

Contact: Theresa Bourgeois
Phone: (518) 276-2840
E-mail: bourgt@rpi.edu