Paul Horn, the director of IBM's Research division for 11 years announced that he is retiring and that he will take up a post as academic scientist at the New York University. His successor, John Kelly, is currently IBM's senior vice president of technology and intellectual property.

Horn's work at IBM is stands out by his many technology accomplishments (including the design and construction of Deep Blue, the computer that won against former chess champion Garry Kasparov, the blue Gene supercomputer, copper chips and autonomic computing) and a sharper commercial orientation. During his time running the Research division, Horn connected IBM scientists with customers and partners. As IBM began offering professional services and consulting, he funded research to help analyze business processes in order to make IBM consultants more productive.

"Since taking the helm in 1996, Paul has transformed our company's R&D model and turned IBM Research into an engine of innovation and growth," wrote Nick Donofrio in a memo sent to IBM employees, executive vice president of innovation and technology. Horn's successor will take over his responsibilities immediately, even if the former head of the Research IBM division, who worked for IBM for 28 years, will stay on until September to help smooth the transition.

During his job as head of IBM's intellectual and technology property, John Kelly has helped in the development of IBM's strategy towards the open source movement and the negotiation of various technology licensing agreements. Before that, John Kelly was the head of IBM's Technology Group and responsible for the IBM division on Microelectronics. After his complete retirement from the Research division, Paul Horn - who is a trained physicist - plans to take up the position of Distinguished Scientist in Residence at New York University, where he will lecture, research and explore book ideas, according to his former company, IBM.