Nicholas Donofrio

Nicholas Donofrio is a 44-year IBM veteran who held the coveted positions of Executive Vice President of Innovation and Technology, and was also selected as an IBM fellow, the company’s highest technical honor. Mr. Donofrio holds seven technology patents, is a member of numerous technical and science honor societies, and holds several board positions.

Mr. Donofrio is focused sharply on advancing education, employment and career opportunities for underrepresented minorities and women in the STEM disciplines. He served for many years on the Board of Directors for the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) and was NACME’s Board chair from 1997 through 2002. He also served for several years on the Board of Directors for INROADS, a nonprofit organization focused on the training and development of talented minority youth for professional careers in business and industry. In 2003, he was awarded the Rodney D. Chipps Memorial Award by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).

He is a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a Fellow of the U.K-based Royal Academy of Engineering, a member of the US-based National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the Board of Directors for the Bank of New York/Mellon, Liberty Mutual, Delphi Automotive, AMD and MITRE. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Trustees at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Syracuse University and the New York Hall of Science as well as being a member of the CT Board of Regents for Higher Education.

In 2002-2003, he led the work effort for the Council on Competitiveness around their National Innovation Initiative (NII) which went on to become the America Competes Act.

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education appointed him to the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, a 20-member delegation of business and university leaders charged with developing a national strategy for post-secondary education to meet the needs of America’s diverse population and workforce. In 2011-2012, he chaired a special committee tasked by the Governor of Vermont to evaluate the relationship between the State of Vermont and the University of Vermont (UVM). In 2012, Mr. Donofrio was invited to be an independent advisor for two of the USA Intelligence Community Agencies.

Most recently, he was a member of the Prime Minister of Taiwan’s Science and Technology Advisory Board (2008-2011), a senior fellow at the Kauffman Foundation (2009-2012) and co-chair for the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board (2009-2012).

Mr. Donofrio holds a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Syracuse University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, respectively. He has received honorary doctorates from Polytechnic University (now NYU-Poly), University of Warwick-UK, Marist College, University of Edinburgh-UK, Pace University, National University of Ireland-Maynooth and Syracuse University.