Samuel J. Palmisano

Samuel J. Palmisano is the Chairman of the Center for Global Enterprise (CGE), a private nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to the study of the contemporary corporation and management science in an interconnected world. The CGE was established in 2013 to help educate societal stakeholders – as well as leaders from the private sector, public sector, and academia – on the integrated economy and its promise for a better future. From 2003 to 2011, Samuel J. Palmisano was chairman, president and chief executive officer of IBM. He was chairman of the board from January through September 2012 and served as a senior adviser to IBM until his retirement in December 2012. Under his leadership, IBM achieved record financial performance, introduced Watson and its Smarter Planet agenda.

Mr. Palmisano began his career with IBM in 1973. In a 39-year career with the company, he held leadership positions that included senior vice president and group executive of the Personal Systems Group, senior vice president and group executive of IBM Global Services, senior vice president and group executive of Enterprise Systems and president and chief operating officer. Mr. Palmisano is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. Among his many business accomplishments, Mr. Palmisano was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Johns Hopkins University in 2012 and 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. In 2013, Mr. Palmisano was awarded the French Legion of Honor for his many accomplishments during his successful career at IBM, as well as for his personal commitment to French-American friendship. He is also an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and served as co-chair of the National Innovation Initiative at the Council on Competitiveness.

Mr. Palmisano was the vice chair of the Presidential Commission focused on enhancing national cybersecurity under former President Obama. Prior to that, he and Ambassador Negroponte co-chaired the task force on Defending an Open, Global, Secure, and Resilient Internet for the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Palmisano is a member of the board of directors for Bloomberg Philanthropies, as well as a member of the CEO Advisory Board for Workday, chair of the Lenovo CEO Advisory Council, advisory member of the Stanford Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute, and chair of the America’s Frontier Fund Board of Directors. In addition, he has founded Palmisano LLC which partners with Jim Breyer of Breyer Capital and is focused on investments in emerging technology segments.