| John Hopkins University, BA |
Samuel J. Palmisano is the current Chairman and CEO of IBM. He was elected Chairman in October 2002, and has served as Chief Executive Officer since March 2002. Prior to his appointment, Palmisano was President and Chief Operating Officer since 2000.
Palmisano joined IBM in 1973 and was elected senior vice president and group executive of the Personal Systems Group in 1997. He was then promoted to senior vice president and group executive of IBM Global Services in 1998. He became senior vice president and group executive of Enterprise Systems in 1999 when the systems group drove IBM’s move to adopt the Linux operating system.
He was elected to the Board of Exxon Mobil in 2006. He is also the Honorary Chairman of national National Engineers Week 2008.
