TopVet: John Patrick, IBM

As IBM's chief Internet technology officer, John Patrick leads the company's efforts in conceiving and developing the next generation of Internet products and processes.

Beyond his official job description, however, Mr. Patrick is considered by many to be IBM's Internet visionary, or dreamer:

Business 2.0 has named him one of the industry's most intriguing minds, and Network World has called him one of the 25 most powerful people in the realm of networking.

Mr. Patrick is a founding member and chairman of the Global Internet Project, a group of executives from a cross-section of international companies working to effect private-sector leadership in the development of the Internet. He also helped found the World Wide Web Consortium at MIT in 1994; is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and electronics Engineers; and is a member of the Internet Society. He has served as an advisor to several new Internet companies, including Space.com, ThirdAge Media, and Neoteny, an incubator in Japan.

At IBM, Mr. Patrick is credited with having created several innovative programs, including the alphaWorks Web site, which is the company's online research and development laboratory for advanced Internet technology; and the ‘Get Connected' program to expand the use of the Internet both within the company and to serve as a model for other companies.

Mr. Patrick joined IBM in 1967 and spent the first half of his career there in a variety of sales, marketing, and management positions. He was one of the pioneers of the IBM Credit Corporation, which has become the largest computer leasing operation in the world. He went on to posts as chief financial officer of various business units of IBM, as vice president of operations for IBM's Computer Integrated Manufacturing Business, and as vice president of marketing for personal systems, during which time he was responsible for creating the ThinkPad brand.

Mr. Patrick earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Lehigh University and a masters of science degree in management from the University of South Florida. He also has a law degree from LaSalle University, which he earned during his military service.

Image Credit: https://speaking.com/blog-post/healthcare-in-the-digital-age-with-john-patrick/