Samuel J Palmisano

Effective October 1, 2012, Sam Palmisano is senior adviser to IBM, until his retirement on December 1, 2012. From January 1, 2003, through December 31, 2011, Mr. Palmisano was chairman, president and chief executive officer of IBM. He was chairman of the Board from January through September 2012. Under his leadership, IBM achieved record financial performance, transformed itself into a globally integrated enterprise and introduced its Smarter Planet agenda. Mr. Palmisano began his career with IBM in 1973 in Baltimore, Maryland. 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 The Johns Hopkins University.