Virginia Rometty was elected the new president and CEO of IBM where she will succeed Samuel Palmisano on Jan. 1, 2012. Palmisano has been CEO since 2002, and will remain as chairman of the board, which is a position he has hendl since 2003.
Rometty joined IBM in 1981 as a systems engineer and is currently SVP and group executive for sales, marketing and strategy. Rometty was also elected a member of the board of directors effective her taking over the role as CEO. In a statement, Palmisano said that “Ginni Rometty has successfully led several of IBM’s most important businesses over the past decade — from the formation of IBM Global Business Services to the build-out of growth markets unit.”
IBM has been focusing on expansion in the emerging markets of China, India, Brazil, Russia and dozens of other developing countries.
Rometty holds a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors in computer science and electrical engineering from Northwestern University.
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