On 2 March 2011 HEC Paris had the honor of welcoming Samuel J. Palmisano, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of IBM. Celebrating IBM's centennial, Mr. Palmisano visited the campus to give a conference on 'A business and its ideas: Shaping a company and a century'.During the ceremony Bernard Ramanantsoa, Dean of HEC Paris, awarded Samuel J. Palmisano with the HEC Honorary Degree. M. Ramanantsoa said 'It is an honor for HEC Paris to welcome Sam Palmisano and to award him the HEC Honorary Degree. His visit to the campus is a unique opportunity for our students to discover his exceptional experience as head of an iconic organization, which is renowned for having continually reinvented itself and for innovation throughout its history.'