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Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has announced its list of esteemed alumni gaining induction into the Alumni Hall of Fame for their post-secondary and professional achievements, and among those honored is Rodney Adkins ’81.

Adkins—a physics and pre-engineering graduate—was recognized for his outstanding career spanning nearly 40 years. Adkins attended Rollins after graduating as valedictorian from Miami Jackson Senior High in 1976. He broke barriers as the first African American corporate officer and senior vice president of development and manufacturing at IBM, where he was instrumental in helping develop the IBM ThinkPad, one of the world’s first laptop computers.

Following his retirement as senior VP of IBM, Adkins became president of 3RAM Group, a business consulting firm specializing in investment and real estate. He is also chairman of Avnet, Inc. and received the Rollins Alumni Achievement Award in 2013.

Black Enterprise magazine named Adkins one of the 100 Most Powerful Executives (2009) and Corporate Executive of the Year (2011). He has served on the College’s Board of Trustees since 2014 and currently chairs its Student Life Committee. He worked with fellow trustee Gerald Ladner ’81 to mentor 2020 graduating Black Student Union members as part of the Share the Light alumni campaign and the Class of 2020 Jobs Challenge initiative.

Adkins and his wife are founding donors of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. He also serves as a trustee of the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a member of the National Board of the Smithsonian Institution.

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