!" STEM Degree & an MBA #" PhD in a STEM Field $" Career in IT
storage systems business. Dean has also been vice president for
gadget, and Website, are respectively, Maui, Hawaii, The Lord of
systems research at IBM’s Watson Research Center. Key tech- the Rings triology, The World is Flat, and The Bible, iPod, www.
nologies from his research team include petafl op supercomputer
cnn.com and
www.sandrakjohnson.weebly.com. Her dream job
systems structures (Blue Gene), Linux optimizations for servers is to develop one technology that would improve quality of life
and embedded systems, and memory compression.
in sub-Saharan Africa.
IBM
IBM
KERRIE HOLLEY $
COLIN PARRIS #
IBM Fellow, C TO IBM S O A Center of
Vice President, Digital Convergence
Excellence
BSEE - Howard University
B A , DePaul University,
M SEE and computer science,
Juris Doctorate, DePaul University
University of California, Berkeley
M S - science of managem ent, Stanford
Kerrie Holley joined Big Blue University
in 1986 and two accomplish-
PHDEE - University of California,
ments make him proud. The fi rst
Berkeley
is success as IBM chief architect,
Colin Parris wants IBM to
responsible for management,
be number one. His proudest
design, integration, development
accomplishment is his role in
and testing of a time-sensitive
the Blue Gene Supercomputer
online banking application. The project was delivered ahead
business, which allowed IBM to regain primacy as the maker
of schedule, with few defects, and the bank achieved its goals.
of the world’s fastest supercomputer. Parris hails his mentor,
The second occurred as Hollie worked with IBM’s CEO and
2007 Black Engineer of the Year, Rodney Adkins, IBM senior
senior executives across all business lines, consulted with outside
vice president, development & manufacturing, in the systems
analysts, and engaged with clients to establish IBM as a tech
and technology group, for providing guidance and opportuni-
leader in service-oriented architecture. Consistent delivery of
ties. Parris counsels would-be IT leaders to gain a technical
complex projects for 20 years, coupled with his status as one
foundation steeped in IT and its deployment tradeoffs. He says
of the premier technical leaders, contributed to him becoming
understanding how an IT solution enhances business value will
an IBM Fellow in 2006. He credits his success to the guidance,
show superiors that you are a key contributor to your client and
love, and tutoring he got from when he was aged 7 through his
your company. Parris says the next big thing in his fi eld is the
twenties at The Sue Duncan’s Children Center, in Chicago. His
3D Internet (3DI), whose most visible manifestations are virtual
favorite book, movie, Website, gadget, and vacations spots, re-
worlds like Second Life. 3DI will allow enterprises to transform
spectively, are The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, Being There, www.
global processes to provide a better return on income across new
longbets.org, iTouch, and hiking in Petra, Jordan, and Machu
metrics and to accelerate the learning and training of individu-
Picchu, Peru.
als or groups. The 14-year IBM veteran is the son of a retired
University of West Indies electrical engineering professor, who
earned a PhDEE with a specialty in biomedical engineering.
IBM
SANDRA K. JOHNSON #
COMPUTER SOFTWARE
Senior Technical Staf f M ember
Systems and Technology Group
BS - electrical engineering, Southern
ORACLE
University, Baton Rouge
MSEE, Stanford University
CHARLES PHILLIPS !
PhDEE, Rice University
President
IBM veteran, Sandra K. John- BS - computer science, United States A ir
son, has many accomplishments.
Force Academy
But her proudest is working on the
MB A - Hampton University
JD, Ne w York Law School
team that created the world’s fi rst
parallel fi le system and the perfor-
Charles Phillips has one of the
mance of several I/O subsystem design alternatives for the Vul-
most demanding jobs in the IT indus-
can machine — the predecessor to Deep Blue, IBM’s world-class
try. Since 2004 he has been president
chess machine. She also says that earning a STEM PhD gave
of Oracle, the world’s leading business
her collegial respect, “tremendous fl exibility” to choose mean-
software company. In September 2008, he provided a state-of-
ingful projects, greater freedom in daily activities, and more
the-company address at the Oracle OpenWorld conference.
than she could have imagined as a fatherless girl who dreamed
He said that during the previous 44 months, Oracle had made
of owning a dishwasher. Today, Dr. Sandra Johnson looks
fi fty corporate acquisitions, including purchases of Peoplesoft,
forward to the next big things such as green computing, cloud
Siebel Systems, Hyperion, and BEA Systems. Oracle’s total
computing, and increased mobile telecom infrastructure in
workforce has risen from 40,000 to 85,000 — with one-third
developing nations. She warns STEM PhDs candidates that the
of new employees acquired through takeovers, and it now offers
quest will challenge them, but focusing on their initial motiva-
3,000 products. In addition, Phillips said, the company now has
tion will bring pay off. Her favorite vacation spot, movie, book,
20,000 developers working across 30,000 servers and plans to
http://www.blackengineer.com
USBE & Information Technology I WINTER 2008 27
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