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, and holds several scientific board positions.
Executive Vice President Innovation and Technology, IBM
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.
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 RS6000, Blue Gene, the Genographic Project and Watson. It includes interviews with more than two dozen business luminaries, including former IBM CEO Sam Palmisano, Apple's Jon Rubinstein, AMD 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.
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