Jim Fletcher graduated from N.C. State University in 1976 with a BS degree in Computer Science.Nominator, Dr. Alan Tharp says, “Jim was a student in one of my first AI classes in the early 70s. To motivate the students to apply some of the AI techniques, each student developed a program to play the game of 3D tic-tac-toe. At the end of the semester, the class had a single elimination tournament. It was not possible to easily connect the programs then, so one player would give his program's output out loud to the other player who would then enter it into his or her program. That program would then generate its next move. Jim Fletcher's program won that tournament. So he was off to an impressive start.”Indeed, Jim’s ability to solve complex technical challenges with innovative and creative solutions served him well during his extensive career at IBM. He was named a Distinguished Engineer at IBM, a prestigious and highly selective honor. In addition, he served as chief architect for a number of technologies during his career including Networking, Pervasive Computing, Systems Management, Asset Management, and Watson Internet of Things (IOT). Jim holds over 60 patents, has published numerous articles in blogs and technical journals, and co-authored three books. He was named a prestigious IBM Master Inventor, is a member of the IBM Academy of Technology, and has been a regular speaker at conferences worldwide on a range of emerging topics. Jim retired from IBM in 2017 as their CTO for their Watson IOT Platform. During his career at IBM he also was recognized with two IBM Corporate Awards, and six Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards, which are presented for technical contributions of significant value to IBM.One of the highlights of Jim’s career at IBM was traveling to Kenya to mentor the IBM team there. He was also active in Appalachia Service Project leading teams of teenagers to do home repairs for those in need in the Appalachian Mountains. Jim is currently serving on the NC State Computer Science Advisory Board, as a way to give back to the University for all it has meant to him.Jim is currently an independent consultant focused on emerging technologies.