MIT World Speakers

Linda Sanford

Linda Sanford is responsible for working across IBM to transform core business processes and to create an IT infrastructure to support those processes.

Previously, Sanford was Senior Vice President & Group Executive, IBM Storage Systems Group. Prior to assuming that position, Sanford headed IBM Global Industries, the organization that manages relationships with IBM's largest customers worldwide and is responsible for generating almost 70 percent of IBM's revenue. Earlier, Sanford was General Manager of IBM's S/390 Division, which develops, manufactures and markets large-enterprise systems.

One of the highest-ranking women at IBM, Sanford is a member of the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame and the National Academy of Engineering. She has been named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Business by Fortune Magazine, one of the Top Ten Innovators in the Technology Industry by Information Week Magazine, and one of the Ten Most Influential Women in Technology by Working Woman Magazine.

Sanford co-authored Let Go To Grow: Escaping the Commodity Trap(Prentice Hall 2005), a book that details how successful companies are pursuing strategies to drive long-term growth and innovation.

A graduate of St. John's University, Sanford earned an M.S. in Operations Research from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.