IBM Chairman Samuel J. Palmisano Named 'CEO of the Year' by Webster University's Walker Business School

ST. LOUIS, May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sam Palmisano, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of IBM, has been named the 2011 "CEO of the Year" by Webster University's George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology. Palmisano was on hand at Webster on April 26 to deliver a lecture, "A Business and Its Ideas: Shaping a Company and a Century," discussing the lessons IBM has learned over the past 100 years. IBM will celebrate its centennial anniversary on June 16.

Past recipients of Webster's "CEO of the Year" award include Jack Dorsey, creator and co-founder of Twitter; Ed Whitacre Jr., former CEO of General Motors and AT&T Inc.; and Hugh Grant, CEO of Monsanto Co.

"Today we will get a history lesson from a respected global leader whose corporation has been an icon in the technology industry for the last 100 years," said Webster President Elizabeth (Beth) J. Stroble. "Theirs is a history of innovative responses to the challenges and changes in the information technology industry over the last decade."

Introducing Sam Palmisano as Webster's 2011 "CEO of the Year," Walker School Dean Dr. Benjamin Akande said, "Great leaders understand that long-term outlook is the ability to focus on the present with a critical eye turned toward the future. It's the capacity to see around corners five, 10, even 20 years ahead. Sam Palmisano is one of those leaders."

In his centennial speech at Webster, Palmisano said, "IBM's history can be seen as a century-long journey to create – and continually recreate – a culture… We have spent 100 years seeking to remain faithful to what makes us… us. Even when technologies shift. Even when the global economy moves to a fundamentally different basis. Through multiple generations of products, markets and people."

With its home campus in St. Louis, Webster University (www.webster.edu) is a worldwide institution committed to delivering high-quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence. Founded in 1915, Webster offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs through five schools and colleges, and a global network of campuses. Its 20,000-plus student population represents almost 150 nationalities.

Since opening its first campus overseas in Geneva in 1978, Webster has become a recognized leader and innovator in global education, with an international presence that now includes campuses in London; Vienna; Amsterdam and Leiden, the Netherlands; Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu, China; and Bangkok and Cha-am, Thailand. Webster also has educational partnerships with universities in Mexico and Japan.

SOURCE Webster University

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