Jane L. Snowdon, Ph.D. IE 1994, has been appointed IBM Chief Innovation Officer for U.S. Federal, a first-of-a-kind role created by IBM for a technology vendor serving the U.S. Federal government. With a strong background in strategy, modeling, analytics, and consulting, Snowdon will focus on emerging areas like Big Data, Cloud Computing, and Mobile. 

Snowdon, who has 17 years of experience in IBM Research, most recently served as the co-leader of IBM’s Global Technology Outlook reporting to the Vice President of Strategy and Worldwide Technical Operations at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center. Snowdon has been a leader in IBM for developing strategies and driving research efforts worldwide to create innovative solutions for smarter buildings as part of IBM’s Smarter City initiative for which she received an IBM Research Division Outstanding Technical Achievement Award.  She was instrumental in defining a partnership with Columbia, the City University of New York (CUNY), and NYU for research collaboration, which was announced by Mayor Bloomberg, to help address New York City’s energy challenges.

Snowdon is a senior member of IEEE and IIE, and a member of INFORMS and the New York Academy of Sciences. In 2006, she was elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering and in 2008, was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni at Georgia Tech. Snowdon is an emeritus member of the Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISyE) Advisory Board, where she served as chair from 2011 until the spring of 2013.  She is also a member of the Georgia Tech College of Engineering Advisory Board and serves on the CUNY Institute of Software Design and Development Advisory Board.

In addition to her Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech, Snowdon holds a B.S. in Industrial and Management Systems Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and a M.S. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan.