As IBM senior vice president, solutions portfolio and research, Dr. John E. Kelly III is focused on the company’s investments in several of the fastest-growing and most strategic parts of the information technology market. His portfolio includes IBM Analytics, IBM Commerce, IBM Security and IBM Watson, as well as IBM Research and the company’s Intellectual Property team. He also oversees the development of units devoted to serving clients in specific industries, beginning with the April 2015 launch of IBM Watson Health.

Dr. Kelly was most recently senior vice president and director of IBM Research, only the tenth person to hold that position over the past seven decades. Under Dr. Kelly, IBM Research expanded its global footprint by adding four new labs (including IBM’s first in Africa, South America and Australia), creating a network of approximately 3,000 scientists and technical employees across 12 laboratories in 10 countries.

Dr. Kelly has received numerous technical and business leadership awards, including the Semiconductor Industry’s highest honor, the Robert N. Noyce Award. He has been recognized with the IEEE’s top award for R&D management, the Frederik Philips Award, as well as the IEEE’s own Robert N. Noyce Award. In October 2013, he received the National Academy of Engineering’s Arthur M. Bueche Award for his leadership in driving U.S. semiconductor technology excellence through broad government, university, and corporate collaboration.

He has published numerous technical papers and recently published the book Smart Machines: IBM’s Watson and the Era of Cognitive Computing with writer Steve Hamm on Columbia University Press.