IBM Selects New Class of 11 IBM Fellows, the Highest Honor It Bestows

IBM Selects New Class of 11 IBM Fellows, the Highest Honor It Bestows

IBM on April 13 named 11 new IBM Fellows, the company’s highest technical honor. The new Fellows are being celebrated for leading innovative work in cognitive computing, cloud, security and design. The IBM Fellow honor is conferred to IBMers in recognition of exceptional and sustained technical achievements and leadership in engineering, programming, services, science, technology, design and industry solutions. To be awarded IBM’s most prestigious technical honor, an employee must meet four important criteria: a) sustained innovation in some of the world’s most important technologies; b) significant recognition as a leader among IBM’s technical communities; c) broad industry acknowledgment of the individual’s accomplishments; and d) a strong history of new technologies and business models being deployed at scale. A list of the honorees is included in this slide show.

Dakshi Agrawal, Distinguished Research Staff Member, Real-Time Cognitive Solutions; IBM Watson and Cloud Platform

Agrawal, IBM’s foremost expert in real-time cognitive solutions, is responsible for a range of innovations in real-time analytics and creating solutions to solve complex client challenges. His scientific work in areas as diverse as information theory, systems sciences, and security and privacy has been cited more than 5,000 times in academic publications, and he holds 59 U.S. patents.

Ed Calusinski, Vice President, Technology; IBM Global Markets

Calusinski’s inventive architecture, design and development—while focusing on business growth, client satisfaction and loyalty—has made him influential in creating game-changing innovations and a trusted adviser to IBM clients.

Eric Herness, CTO, IBM Hybrid Cloud

As chief technology officer of IBM Hybrid Cloud, Herness is a key leader in IBM’s move to the cloud and in clients’ evolution to hybrid cloud. Herness was a chief architect and a partner with the other key creators of IBM WebSphere and ushered in the era of web application serving.

Charlie Hill, Platform Experience, IBM Design

Hill was instrumental in establishing a scaled program of human-centered design at IBM. He led the creation of IBM Design Thinking, which today is helping all IBMers and many of the company’s clients create more innovative offerings and solutions with a focus on human outcomes.

Hillery Hunter, Director, Accelerated Cognitive Infrastructure, IBM Research

Hunter is a respected industry expert in next-generation memory technology.

Matt Huras, Distinguished Engineer, IBM Hybrid Cloud

Huras is a prolific public speaker, member of the International DB2 User’s Group Hall of Fame, chair of the IBM Analytics Technical Leadership Review Board and a Master Inventor with 54 U.S. patents.

Hugo Krawczyk, Distinguished Research Staff Member, IBM Research

Krawczyk’s fundamental and lasting contributions to the theoretical and practical foundations of cryptography include pioneering designs to internet-wide security protocols and major advances in encryption, authentication and privacy.

Sam Lightstone, Distinguished Engineer, IBM Watson and Cloud Platform

Lightstone, an expert in analytics, has more than 60 patents issued and pending, has authored four books and has written more than 30 papers.

Sridhar Muppidi, CTO, Cloud Security, Identity & Access Management, IBM Security

Muppidi, an IBM Master Inventor, has played a key role in digital ID transformation projects worldwide.

Rachel Reinitz, CTO, IBM Bluemix Garage, IBM Hybrid Cloud

Reinitz helped found eight IBM Bluemix Garages combining IBM Design Thinking, lean startup, DevOps and cloud technologies to transform how clients design and deliver applications.

Matthias Steffen, Chief Quantum Architect and Distinguished Research Staff Member, IBM Research

Steffen has made invaluable contributions to IBM’s progress toward offering a commercial quantum computing system.

A Little History of the Fellows Program

IBM’s Fellow program was founded in 1963 by Thomas J. Watson Jr. to promote creativity among the company’s most exceptional technical professionals. IBM has named 289 Fellows since the program’s inception. IBM Fellows have been granted five Nobel Prizes, one Kyoto Prize and one Presidential Medal of Freedom. Collectively, the 11 new Fellows have 296 patents.