Janet Perna is an American computer scientist known for her work in coordinating IBM's work in the field of databases.

Education and career

Perna grew up in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

. She graduated with a degree in mathematics from

SUNY Oneonta The State University of New York at Oneonta, also known as SUNY Oneonta, is a public university in Oneonta, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History SUNY Oneonta was established in 1889 as the Oneonta ...

in 1970, and started teaching mathematics. In 1974 she moved to California and got a job at IBM as a programmer. She worked first in San Jose, and then moved to IBM's Santa Teresa Laboratory. She later moved to the data management division, and then the information management group. Projects she worked on included preparing the IBM Db2 for public release, and encouraging IBM's 2001 purchase of the database company

Informix Corporation Informix Corporation, formerly Informix Software, Inc., was a software company located in Menlo Park, California. It was a developer of relational database software for computers using the Unix, Microsoft Windows, and Apple Macintosh operating s ...

. Perna was recognized as an industry leader for her contributions to IBM's data management business. She played a crucial role in expanding IBM's data management into new, lucrative areas and setting industry standards. By 2001, she was the most senior female executive at IBM. After 31 years at IBM, she retired in 2006.

Honors and awards

During her time at IBM, Janet was inducted into the

Women in Technology International Hall of Fame A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

and was recognized by

InformationWeek ''InformationWeek'' is a digital magazine which conducts corresponding face-to-face events, virtual events, and research. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United State ...

as one of the "Top 10 Women in IT" in the United States. Perna received an honorary degree from

State University of New York at Oneonta The State University of New York at Oneonta, also known as SUNY Oneonta, is a public university in Oneonta, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History SUNY Oneonta was established in 1889 as the Oneonta N ...

in 2012. In 2018, SUNY Oneota re-named a building the "Janet R. Perna Science Building". In addition to these honors, Perna has been recognized for her leadership in database management at IBM. She was named one of the "Top 50 Women to Watch" by Women in Technology International and received the "Leadership Award" from ''

Computerworld ''Computerworld'' (abbreviated as CW) is a computer magazine published since 1967 aimed at information technology (IT) and Business computing, business technology professionals. Original a print magazine, ''Computerworld'' published its final pr ...

''. Additionally, ''

eWeek ''eWeek'' (''Enterprise Newsweekly'', stylized as ''eWEEK''), formerly ''PCWeek'', is a technology and business magazine. Previously owned by Ziff Davis, then sold to QuinStreet. Nashville, Tennessee marketing company TechnologyAdvice acquired ...

'' listed her in their "Top 100 Most Influential People in IT". Her contributions were pivotal in IBM's acquisition of

, further cementing her legacy in the tech industry.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perna, Janet Living people Computer scientists IBM employees State University of New York at Oneonta alumni Business executives Year of birth missing (living people)