Nicholas Donofrio

Dr. Nicholas Donofrio is a 44-year IBM veteran who held the position of executive vice president, Innovation and Technology, and was also selected as an IBM fellow, the company's highest technical honor. He is an IBM fellow emeritus & EVP Innovation and Technology (Ret.). Mr. Donofrio holds seven technology patents, is a member of numerous technical and science honor societies, and holds several board positions.

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) and remains an active member of SWE.

He is a fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu & Sigma Xi engineering and science honor societies, a fellow of the U.K-based Royal Academy of Engineering, a member of the U.S.-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, O'Brien & Gere, Sproxil and MITRE. From 1993 to 2013 he served as a member of the board of trustees at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He currently is a member of the board of trustees for Syracuse University, the New York Hall of Science (co-chair 2007- 2013) and the New York Genome Center. In December 2013, he was named by the governor of Connecticut chairmam of the Board of Regents for Higher Education. In 2014 he was elected to the board of trustees for the USIP's Peace Tech Lab and in 2015 became its chairman. Also in 2015, he became a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors board of directors.

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. The commission report, A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of Higher Education, is available through the U.S. Department of Education.

In 2011-2012 he chaired a special committee tasked by the governor of Vermont to evaluate the relationship between the state of Vermond and the University of Vermont (UVM). The committee report, New Ideas for Changing Times: Strengthening the Partnership Between the State of Vermont and the University of Vermont, was accepted by the governor and the president of UVM.