IBM appoints first woman CEO

 　　BEIJING, Oct. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Virginia M. Rometty, 54, will succeed present IBM CEO Sam Palmisano to be the next chief executive at the start of 2012, the company announced Tuesday.

　　This is unprecedented¹ in the New York-based company's 100-year history, because Rometty, a senior vice² president of IBM, will be its first female CEO.

　　Since joining the company three decades ago, Ms. Rometty has contributed a lot to the giant I.T. Company.

　　After graduating from Northwestern University with an undergraduate degree in computer science, she entered the company in 1981 as a systems engineer. In virtue³ of outstanding performance, she was quickly promoted to management.

　　For the following 20 years, she worked with clients in banking⁴, insurance, and telecommunications, to name a few.

　　In 2002, Rometty caught Palmisano's attention when she helped integrate the 3.5 billion dollar acquisition of the big business consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting, IBM's largest deal ever at the time.

　　Then she became senior vice president of the group and group executive for sales, marketing⁵ and strategy in 2009. Under her leading, the business in overseas emerging markets including China, India, Brazil and several African nations, has increased sharply.

　　New York Times reported that such markets now accounted for 23 percent of IBM.’s revenue, up from 20 percent when she took over.

　　“Ginni got it because she deserved it,” Mr. Palmisano told the New York Times. "Ginni" is an informal first name used by her friends and colleagues.

　　The selection of Rometty for chief executive will make her the 17th female CEO in the Fortune 500 on the following January. Other prominent women who play the same role as Rometty include Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Ellen J. Kullman of DuPont, Meg Whitman of Hewlett-Packard, and so on.

1 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

4 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。