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Steve Phillips is senior vice president and chief information officer for Avnet, Inc., reporting to Avnet CEO Rick Hamada. He is a member of the Avnet Executive Board and a corporate officer.

Mr. Phillips came to Avnet with the 2005 acquisition of Memec, where he served as senior vice president and chief information officer since 2004. Prior to joining Memec, Mr. Phillips was senior vice president and chief information officer for Gateway Inc. He was previously the IT leader for Diageo’s European foods business. Early in his career, he served in a number of engineering and operations leadership roles at Thorn EMI.

Under Mr. Phillips’ leadership, Avnet has been recognized with multiple IT awards, including CIO 100, InfoWorld Green 15 and InformationWeek Elite 100. In 2015, Mr. Phillips was inducted into CIO magazine’s CIO Hall of Fame, a lifetime achievement that honors IT executives and visionaries whose leadership has significantly impacted the field of IT. Additionally, he received an HMG Strategy Transformational CIO Leadership Award in 2012 and was named a Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader in 2011.

Mr. Phillips is chairman of the board at Wick Communications, a news and specialty publications company. From 2008 through 2011, he served as chairman of the board of the Arizona Technology Council, a trade association that represents Arizona’s technology industry.

Mr. Phillips holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering from Essex University and a post-graduate Diploma in Management Studies from the University of West London.  He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

“MIT is at the forefront of technical innovation that improves the world, which strongly aligns with Avnet’s strategic approach to its markets,” said Philips. “Business should always be at the center of IT, and being named a Finalist validates the incredible efforts of the entire Avnet team to find new ways to use information technology to advance the business goals of Avnet and our partners. I congratulate my fellow distinguished Finalists, and their remarkable efforts to help their companies evolve and grow.”