Nicholas Michael Donofrio (born September 7, 1945) is an American scientist and engineer and was the Executive Vice President of Innovation and Technology at the IBM Corporation until 2008. Upon retirement, he was selected as an honorary IBM Fellow, the company’s highest technical honor. He holds seven technology patents, is a member of numerous technical and science

honor societies In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the National Honor Society of the Boy Sc ...

, and holds several scientific board positions. In 1995, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions in the development of semi-conductor memory and technical leadership in computers.

Biography

Donofrio was born in

Beacon, New York Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2020 census placed the city total population at 13,769. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area as we ...

in 1945. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

in 1967 and a Master of Science in the same discipline from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1971. He joined IBM in 1967 as an engineer, but moved into management positions which led him to his most recent position. He serves on the board of the National Commission on the Future of Higher Education and the National Association of Corporate Directors and is a Director at

Liberty Mutual Group Liberty Mutual Group is an American diversified global insurer and the sixth-largest property and casualty insurer in the United States. It ranks 71st on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the United States based on 2020 revenue. B ...

. Donofrio has also received honorary doctorates from the Polytechnic University of New York (1999),

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

(2002), Marist College (2005),

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

(2006), Pace University (2009),

Maynooth University The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It ...

of Ireland (2010), and

(2011).

Books

In May 2022, Scribe Media published Donofrio's memoir ''If Nothing Changes, Nothing Changes''. In the book, Donofrio shares lessons learned across almost six decades experience in business and innovation and chronicles the development and launch of seminal technologies such as the IBM

S/360 The IBM System/360 (S/360) is a family of mainframe computer A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for t ...

, the

RS6000 The RISC System/6000 (RS/6000) is a family of RISC-based Unix servers, workstations and supercomputers made by IBM in the 1990s. The RS/6000 family replaced the IBM RT PC computer platform in February 1990 and was the first computer line to see ...

, Blue Gene, the Genographic Project and

Watson Watson may refer to: Companies * Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals * A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa * Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center * Watson Systems, make ...

. It includes interviews with more than two dozen business luminaries, including former IBM CEO

Sam Palmisano Samuel J. "Sam" Palmisano (born July 29, 1951) is a former president and the eighth chief executive officer of IBM until January 2012. He also served as Chairman of the company until October 1, 2012. Palmisano was appointed president and chief ...

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

's Jon Rubinstein,

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufactur ...

CEO Lisa Su and others. The chapters are framed within lessons learned early in life from Donofrio's blue-collar father and mother. Donofrio wrote ''If Nothing Changes, Nothing Changes'' with Michael DeMarco, founder of American Journeys. It was edited by his longtime IBM communications executive David Yaun.

Awards and positions held

* Chairman at Quantexa (2017–present) * Industry Week magazine's Technology Leader of the Year (2003) * University of Arizona's Technical Executive of the Year * Rodney D. Chipp Memorial Award from the Society of Women Engineers * The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art Urban Visionaries Award for Engineering *

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

magazine's 25 Top Innovation Champions * Fellow, Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers * Fellow, U.K-based Royal Academy of Engineering * Commencement Keynote Speaker, esteemed Advisor, Neumont University * Contributor, US Department of Educatio
Commission on Higher Education
2006 * Member of the US National Academy of Engineering * Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences * Member of the Board of Directors for the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation * Member of the Board of Directors for Wigix, Inc. * Member of the Board of Directors for Advanced Micro Devices * Member of the Board of Trustees at

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region and Beacon, New York. It was founded in 1896 and has an enr ...

* Member of the Board of Trustees at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute * Co-chair of the New York Hall of Science * Member of the Board of Directors for The Council for the United States and Italy * Honorary IBM Fellow * 2010 recipient of the

IRI Medal The IRI Medal, established by the Industrial Research Institute (IRI) in 1946, recognizes and honors leaders of technology for their outstanding accomplishments in technological innovation which contribute broadly to the development of industry and ...

from the

Industrial Research Institute Innovation Research Interchange (IRI) is a division of the National Association of Manufacturers, a nonprofit association based in Washington, D. C., United States. IRI was founded as a private non-profit in 1938 and merged with the NAM in 2022. IR ...

* Member of the Board of Trustees for the MITRE Corporation * Member of the Board of Directors for HYPR Corp * Member of the Board of Directors for Topcoder, Inc. * Member of the Board of Directors for

Sproxil Sproxil is an American venture capital-backed for-profit company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that provides a consumer product verification service (called Mobile Authentication Service or MAS) to help consumers avoid purchasing counterfe ...

* Chair of the

Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education The Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR) is a government body in the U.S. state of Connecticut that oversees the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU). CSCU and the BOR were created on July 1, 2011, consolidating the governance of ...

* International Peace Honors Award (2022)

References

External links

Forbes Profile of Nick Donofrio

Autobiography
1945 births Living people IBM employees IBM Fellows Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1940s-stub