Raised in inner-city Miami, Florida, Rodney C. Adkins was valedictorian of his high school graduating class and would matriculate university at Georgia Tech, where he would earn his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in electrical engineering; he also earned a bachelor of arts in physics from Rollins College. From 2007-2014, Mr. Adkins was Senior Vice President of IBM, becoming the company’s first African-American Senior Vice President. He is now Chairman of Avnet, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components and embedded solutions. In addition, he is President of 3RAM Group LLC, a privately held company specializing in capital investments, business consulting services and property management.