John E. Kelly III
John E. Kelly III is an American executive at IBM. He has been described as the "father" of Watson, a computer system most known for competing against humans on Jeopardy! He joined IBM in 1980 and has served as the director of IBM Research. Kelly has received the Frederik Philips Award and the Robert N. Noyce Medal, both of which are presented by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He has served as a board member for his alma maters, Union College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, as well as the New York Academy of Sciences and the Semiconductor Industry Association.