Anna Topol

Dr. Anna Topol is a Chief Technology Officer and Distinguished Engineer at IBM Research. Dr. Topol is responsible for the IBM Research Global Client Experience organization, which focuses on engagement management of strategic alliances and operations of IBM Research Think Labs. She is also a member of the IBM Open Innovation Community.

She is an IBM Master Inventor, with 96 patents, and a prolific technical author (>100 publications, 3 book chapters, and over 6.8K citations). In 2015, she received the “Most Frequently Cited Paper Award between 2001-2014” from the Symposium on Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) Technology.

Dr. Topol possesses a wealth of experience stemming from 20+ years in research and business alliance teams, working with IBM’s clients, business partners, software vendors, and universities. Her previous positions include Industry CTO in IBM Systems Group, Program Director for Intellectual Property management in IBM Corporate Headquarters (CHQ) organization, and Principal Investigator of fundamental technology development for CMOS in IBM Research.

Dr. Topol is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a recipient of the 2021 Society of Women Engineers WE Local Engaged Advocate Award. She was highlighted in the 2019, 2021, and 2023 Strong Women in IT Reports. She serves on the Executive Committee of The Industry Advisory Board (IAB) for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Dr. Topol received her BS in Applied Mathematics and Physics with a Minor in Computer Science from UWM. She received her MS and PHD from SUNY. Albany in Physics. Before joining IBM, she was a postdoc at the College of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at the University of Albany, and worked at Applied Science and Technology Inc. (ASTeX)