Nicholas M. Donofrio is an American Engineer, IBM Fellow and Former Executive Vice President of Technology and Innovation at the IBM Corporation. He has served as a Member of the Board of Directors of AMD, Liberty Mutual, Aptiv, Bank of New York-Mellon and MITRE Corporation.

Nicholas M. Donofrio began his career in 1964 at IBM, where he remained for 44 years in increasingly responsible roles, including those of division president for advanced workshops, general manager of the large-scale computing division, and executive vice president of innovation and technology.

He is a member of several technical societies including Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu as well as the Society of Women Engineers. Donofrio is a Life Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a Fellow of the UK-based Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the US-based National Academy of Engineering, a member of the New York Academy of Science and the CT Academy of Science and Engineering.

He served a term as a Senior Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation (2009-2012). He also served on the US Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board (2008-2012), serving as vice-chair for his last two years of service. He was a member of the CT Board of Regents for Higher Education (2011-2016), serving as its Chairman from 2013-2016. He served as co-chair of the Board of the New York Hall of Science (2007-2017) and now serves as Chairman Emeritus. Donofrio was a member of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) Board (1982-2002) serving as its Chairman from 1997 to 2002. He also served on InRoads National Board of Directors for several years before leaving IBM.

He is an Executive in Residence at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. He is the Chairman of the Board of the Peace Tech Lab in Washington, DC and the Chairman of the Board of Quantexa, a UK based company. He is a member of the board of the MITRE Corporation, APTIV PLC, HYPR Corp., Sproxil Corp., the New York Genome Institute, Syracuse University (Life Trustee), the National Association of Corporate Directors, Security Score Card and Ravenpod Inc. He served as a board member at Clarkson University (1987-1992), RPI (1993-2013), Top Coder (2009-2013), O’Brien & Gere (2013-2016), BNY Mellon (1998-2017), Liberty Mutual (2010-2018) and AMD (2009-2018). He additionally serves as an advisor to Workforce Opportunity Services (WOS), ASTIA, Atlas Research, Mitchells, HBI Solutions, TeraGroup, Bold Start VC, StarVest Partners and the Medici Group.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1967 and a Master of Science in the same discipline from Syracuse University in 1971.

In 1999 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Engineering from Polytechnic University (now NYU); in 2002 he received an honorary doctorate in Science from the University of Warwick, England; in 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Technology from Marist College; in 2006 he received an honorary doctorate in Science from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Pace University awarded him an honorary doctorate in Science in 2009; the National University of Ireland, Maynooth awarded him an honorary doctorate in Science in 2010; in 2011 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Science from Syracuse University and in 2017 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Southern Vermont College. In 2018 he was awarded an honorary Associate Degree in Science from Naugatuck Valley Community College. In 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Engineering from Drexel University.

Mr. Donofrio is focused sharply on advancing education, employment and career opportunities for underrepresented minorities and women. He served for many years on the Board of Directors for the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) and was NACME's Board chair from 1997 through 2002. He served on the National Board of Directors for INROADS (2005-2008), a non-profit organization focused on the training and development of talented minority youth for professional careers in business and industry. In 2005, Mr. Donofrio was appointed by the U.S. Department of Education to serve on the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, a 20-member delegation of business and university leaders charged with developing a new national strategy for post-secondary education that will meet the needs of Americas diverse population and address the economic and workforce needs of the country's future. In 2006, he was named IBM’s delegate to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a coalition of 190 companies united by a shared commitment to economic growth, ecological balance and social progress.

In 2002, Mr. Donofrio 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 he was honored by CNBC with its Overall Technology Leadership Award. In 2006, he was honored by The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art with the Urban Visionaries Award for Engineering; was named one of Business Week magazine’s 25 Top Innovation Champions, and received the Robert Fletcher Award from Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering for distinguished achievement and service.

In 2008, he was awarded the Excellence in Leadership Award, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; he was presented with a Gold Medal for Distinguished Service, from the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the first-ever NNSA Gold Medal presented to a non-U.S. government employee; was honored with the Director’s Memento of Esteem, U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) for substantial contributions to the United States Department of Defense; and was awarded with the Renaissance Engineer Award, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), for commitment and promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics for the U.S. Hispanic community in both education and business.

In 2009, he was awarded Toastmasters International Communications and Leadership Award.

In 2010 he received The IRI Medal from the industrial Research Institute, Inc.

In 2011 he received the Ridgefield, CT Library Paccadolmi Award for Leadership.

In 2012 he was give the Rensselaer Alumni Association Award, RPI’s Highest Alumni Honor.

In 2013 he received the Pace University Leadership/Service in Technology Award and was honored with an NACD D100 Award.

In 2014 he received the NYU Engineering School Polytechnic Medal.

In 2015 he and his wife were awarded the Ridgefield, CT Library Hope Swenson Visionary Award

In 2016 he was given in CT the Naugatuck Valley Community College Honorary Lifetime Membership Award

He formed NMD Consulting in 2008 as he graduated from IBM.