[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 130 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        TRIBUTE TO NICK DONOFRIO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETER WELCH-

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 31, 2008

  Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Speaker, it is my great pleasure to pay 
special tribute to Mr. Nick Donofrio who is retiring after more than 40 
years in various leadership capacities at the IBM Corporation.
  Nick Donofrio is an adopted son of the Green Mountain State. For many 
years, Nick led IBM's semiconductor development and manufacturing 
facility in Burlington and he and his wife, Anita, raised their two 
children, Nicole and Michael, in Vermont.
  Nick joined IBM in 1967 and spent the early part of his career in 
integrated circuit and chip development, as a designer of logic and 
memory chips. He held numerous technical management positions and, 
later, executive positions in several of IBM's product divisions. He 
has led many of IBM's major development and manufacturing teams--from 
semiconductor and storage technologies, to microprocessors and personal 
computers, to IBM's entire family of servers.
  Nick has always been a champion for innovation across IBM and its 
global ecosystem. He has been the leader of IBM's global technology 
strategy. In addition to his strategic business mission, Nick has led 
the development and retention of IBM's technical population and strives 
to enrich that community with a diversity of culture and thought.
  Nick has been focused sharply on advancing education, employment and 
career opportunities for under represented minorities and women--all 
issues of great importance to me as well.
  He served for many years on the Board of Directors for the National 
Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME). He has served on 
the Board of Directors for INROADS, a non-profit organization focused 
on the training and development of talented minority youth for 
professional careers in business and industry, and he is co-chair of 
the New York Hall of Science. A fellow Italian-American, Nick was 
awarded the prestigious 2007 National Education and Leadership Award 
from the Sons of Italy Foundation.
  He is the holder of seven technology patents and is a member of 
numerous technical and science honor societies. In 2002, Nick was 
recognized by Europe's Institution of Electrical Engineers with the 
Mensforth International Gold Medal for outstanding contributions to the 
advancement of manufacturing engineering. In 2003, he was named 
Industry Week magazine's Technology Leader of the Year, the University 
of Arizona's Technical Executive of the Year, and was presented with 
the Rodney D. Chipp Memorial Award by the Society of Women Engineers 
for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of women in the 
engineering field. In 2005, Nick was elected a member of the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences, he was presented with Syracuse 
University's highest alumni honor--the George Arents Pioneer Medal, and 
he was honored by CNBC with its Overall Technology Leadership Award.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in congratulating Nick Donofrio, as he 
begins a new exciting chapter in his life.

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