Former CEO at IBM
Virginia (Ginni) M. Rometty, former chairman, president and CEO of IBM, has been elected to the Cargill board of directors.
“Ginni led the reinvention of IBM for the era of cloud and data, by realigning its portfolio through organic and acquired growth. She also is a steadfast advocate for advancing diversity in the workplace, pioneering efforts that brought IBM into a more inclusive future. Through these efforts, Ginni has become a leading voice on technology ethics, business transformation and the workplace of the future. We are thrilled to bring her expertise and vision for purpose-driven corporations to Cargill,” said Dave MacLennan, Cargill’s board chair and CEO.
Rometty became CEO of IBM in 2012 and retired in 2020. She made bold changes during her tenure, notably leading the acquisition of 65 companies, including Red Hat, the largest acquisition in the company’s history. IBM also achieved record results in diversity and inclusion under her leadership. She enabled people of diverse backgrounds and education levels to participate in the digital economy, with IBM creating thousands of “New Collar” jobs and championing the reinvention of education around the world.
In 2020, Rometty was named to the board of directors for JP Morgan Chase. She is the co-chair of OneTen, an organization that brings together top U.S. companies, including IBM and Cargill, to upskill, hire and promote 1 million black Americans over the next 10 years. She serves on the board of trustees of Northwestern University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Brookings Institute. Rometty is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Singapore Economic Development Board International Advisory Council, the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Advisory Board and the BDT Capital Advisory Board. Rometty also serves as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Visiting Innovation Fellow.
Rometty has a bachelor of science degree in Computer Sciences from Northwestern University, where she later was awarded an honorary degree. She also has honorary degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and North Carolina State University.
