Vikram Verma Named to Florida Institute of Technology Board of Trustees
Silicon Valley CEO Earned
Engineering Degree at FIT
MELBOURNE, FLA. — Vikram Verma, a Florida Institute of Technology alumnus and technology pioneer who leads one of the most successful unified communications companies in the world, has been elected to the university’s Board of Trustees.
Currently chief executive officer of Silicon Valley-based 8×8, Inc., Verma has had a distinguished 25-year executive career with leading technology companies. He has been granted eight patents and honored with various accolades, including being named one of 40 “Technology Pioneers” in 2003 by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
A member of the Florida Tech board from 2002 to 2007, when travel and business obligations necessitated he step away, Verma earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at the Melbourne-based university in 1987.
“I am truly honored to once again be part of Florida Tech’s Board of Trustees and excited to be back at my alma mater to contribute to its longstanding success,” Verma said. “FIT taught me the value of hard work, commitment and focusing on the fundamentals, and I look forward to working with my fellow trustees to ensure the university brings continued success to all of its graduates.”
Verma’s Florida Tech highlights and honors include being a recipient of the Faculty Honors Award (Co-Valedictorian) Class of 1987, the 1987 Tau Beta Pi Williams Fellowship, the 1999 Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award, and being selected as a commencement speaker in 2002.
In addition to his degree from Florida Tech, Verma earned an M.S.E. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, and the graduate degree of Engineer in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He later attended the executive management program for CEOs at Harvard Business School, the AEA Executive Institute at Stanford University, the Financial Management Program at the Haas School of Business at University of California-Berkley, the Stanford Law School Directors’ College, and the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee programs at Harvard Business School.
“With his experience in the business world and his passion for Florida Tech, Vik is a welcome addition to our board. We are very pleased to have him back,” said university President and CEO Anthony J. Catanese. “He understands that education is essential to future success and will help ensure Florida Tech continues to be among the best technological universities in the world.”
Since 2012, Verma has served on 8×8’s Board of Directors, and in 2013, was appointed CEO. 8×8 has over 800 employees globally and today offers secure and reliable enterprise cloud communications solutions to more than 40,000 businesses operating in over 100 countries across six continents.
From 2008-2013, Verma was president of strategic venture development for Lockheed Martin. In that role, he was responsible for monetizing existing Lockheed Martin technologies and programs in new global commercial markets. From 2006-2008, Verma was President of the IS&GS Savi Group, a Lockheed Martin technology and information services division. Previously, he was chairman and CEO of Savi Technology, Inc., a leader in radio frequency identification-based tracking and security solutions and a pioneer in cloud-based managed service offerings. Savi was acquired by Lockheed Martin in 2006.
Verma began his career at Savi in 1990 as a design engineer, joining the company while it was pre-revenue. By 1994, he had been promoted to Chief Operating Officer, and in 1995, helped negotiate the acquisition of Savi by Texas Instruments, which subsequently sold the business to Raytheon Company. Verma became President and CEO of Savi in 1997. In partnership with venture capitalists from Silicon Valley and Asia, he led the management buyout of Savi from Raytheon Company in 1999.
###
