John S. Chen (; born July 1, 1955) is a Hong Kong-American businessman serving as executive chairman and chief executive officer of

BlackBerry Ltd BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it was originally known as Research In Motion (RIM). As RIM, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets ...

. Previously, he served as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

and president of

Sybase Sybase, Inc. was an enterprise software and services company. The company produced software to manage and analyze information in relational databases, with facilities located in California and Massachusetts. Sybase was acquired by SAP in 2010; ...

, a software vendor specializing in data management, analytics, and mobility technology. Chen has also served on the boards of

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

and

Wells Fargo & Company Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

and was appointed by U.S. President George W. Bush to serve on the President's Export Council in 2005.

Early life and education

Born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, Chen traces his ancestral origin to

Wuxi Wuxi (, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu province, eastern China, by car to the northwest of downtown Shanghai, between Changzhou and Suzhou. In 2017 it had a population of 3,542,319, with 6,553,000 living in the entire prefecture-level city a ...

, Jiangsu. His family migrated from Shanghai during the Chinese civil war. Chen studied at

La Salle College La Salle College (LSC) (, Demonym: Lasallian) is a boys' secondary school in Hong Kong. It was established in 1932 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a Roman Catholic religious teaching order founded by St. John Bap ...

until Form 5, before going to the United States and graduating from

Northfield Mount Hermon School Northfield Mount Hermon School, often called NMH, is a co-educational preparatory school in Gill, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association. Present day NMH offers nearly 200 courses, including AP a ...

, a preparatory school in

Northfield, Massachusetts Northfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. Northfield was first settled in 1673. The population was 2,866 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Connecticut R ...

. He went on to graduate from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1978 with a B.S., ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, and in 1979, with an

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in electrical engineering from

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

Career

Chen began his career in 1979 as a design engineer with

Unisys Unisys Corporation is an American multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. It provides digital workplace solutions, cloud, applications, and infrastructure solutions, ...

, where he eventually served as vice president and general manager of, in turn, the Convergent RISC Platform Division and the Convergent UNIX Systems Group. In 1991 he joined Pyramid Technology Corporation as executive vice president. Chen was elected president, chief operating officer and a director of Pyramid in 1993, serving until 1995. Chen next joined

Siemens Nixdorf Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme, AG (SNI) was formed in 1990 by the merger of Nixdorf Computer and the Data Information Services (DIS) division of Siemens. It functioned as a separate company within Siemens. It was the largest information ...

as a vice president in 1995. He was promoted to president and chief executive officer of

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

Nixdorf's Open Enterprise Computing Division in 1996.

Sybase

Chen became CEO of Sybase in 1998. As John Gallant and Eric Knorr noted in ''IT World'', Sybase had been a strong competitor of

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word ...

, but had become a "dead company" after failing to enter the market for enterprise applications, as Oracle had. Chen and his team proceeded to reinvent Sybase as an "enabler of the 'unwired enterprise'". In so doing, Chen and his team led a re-invention strategy that led to the turnaround of the company into a profitable mobile device software producer, valued at $6 billion in 2010. Chen was at Sybase for 14 years. Sybase achieved strong financial performance and shareholder returns under Chen's leadership, including 55 consecutive quarters of profitability, $2.8 billion of cash generated, and a 28 percent compound annual growth rate of its market capitalization from a low of $362 million to $5.8 billion through 2010. Sybase was acquired in 2010 by

SAP AG Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is ...

Blackberry, board and trustee appointments

Chen was appointed executive chairman of the board and CEO of

in November 2013, responsible for the company's strategic direction, strategic relationships and organizational goals. He has been credited with the saving and turnaround of Blackberry. He served as a director on the board of the

from 2004 to 2019 and of

from 2006 to 2018, and as of September 2016 maintains stock holdings in both companies valued in the single-digit millions of dollars. He has served on the boards of

CIT Group CIT Group (CIT), a subsidiary of First Citizens BancShares, is an American financial services company. It provides financing, including factoring, cash management, treasury management, mortgage loans, Small Business Administration loans, le ...

and

High tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

startups such as Beyond.com, Niku Corporation, Wafer Technology, and Turbolinux US. He has also served as a member of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...

's listing advisory committee.

International relations

Chen is actively involved in international relations. U.S. President George W. Bush appointed Chen to serve on the President's Export Council (in 2005), and as co-chair of the Secure Borders and Open Doors Advisory Committee. He has testified before Congress on U.S.-China trade relations. Additionally, Chen chaired the U.S.-China Policy Advisory Roundtable for the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts policy ...

. He serves as a trustee of the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

, and is a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

(CFR).

Awards

Chen has been an invited member, since 1997, of the Committee of 100 (C-100) organisation of "Extraordinary Chinese Americans." The

Brown University School of Engineering The Brown University School of Engineering is the engineering school of Brown University, a private Ivy League research university located in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown's engineering program is the third oldest civilian engineering program i ...

awarded Chen its Brown Engineering Alumni Medal (BEAM) in 2003. In July 2007, Sybase announced that Chen, its CEO, had been awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Northern California. Chen has also received awards from the US-Asia Institute (2009), the U.S.-China Policy Foundation, and the California-Asia Business Council (2007). In addition, the U.S.-Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation has recognized Chen for his corporate board work. Chen was awarded an honorary professorship from

Shanghai University Shanghai University, commonly referred to as SHU, or colloquially Shangda (), is a Public university, public research university located in Shanghai. The 555-acre main Baoshan District, Shanghai, Baoshan campus is situated in the north of Shang ...

, and honorary doctorates from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) ...

City University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...

, and

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Clear Water Bay Peninsula, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991 by the British Hong Kong Government, it was the territory's third institut ...

Philanthropy

John Chen donates to children’s organisations, scholarship funds for those from rural China, and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

Chang-Lin Tien Centre.

Personal life

John Chen married Sherry Hsi Chen and the couple have four children. As of 2016, Chen was a trustee of

and of the charitable organisation,

The First Tee First Tee is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that teaches children life skills, self-confidence, and resilience through golf lessons. First Tee reaches more than 3.6 million youth annually through programs delivered at chapter program locations, ...

, and a governor of the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San F ...

References

External links

New Chen Professorship Supports Research in Sustainability and Energy
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, John S 1955 births Living people American chairpersons of corporations Brown University School of Engineering alumni California Institute of Technology alumni Directors of The Walt Disney Company Hong Kong emigrants to the United States Members of Committee of 100 Wells Fargo American technology chief executives Directors of BlackBerry Limited American expatriates in Canada 21st-century American businesspeople American people of Hong Kong descent Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni