Executive of the Year

Published: 9 May 2014

One of the University's earliest Computing Science graduates, John McAdam (BSc 1972), has won one of the most illustrious business titles in Seattle.

John McAdam (BSc 1972), one of the University’s earliest graduates in computing science, has won one of the most illustrious business titles in Seattle, recognised as the US centre of technology since the 1980s.

John McAdam, BSc 1972

Current position: President, chief executive officer and director, F5 Networks Inc.‌

When John McAdam was a computer science student at the University, the department’s computer – an English Electric KDF9 – took up the whole room and was less powerful than an iPhone.

That was more than 40 years ago when computing was in its infancy. Now, the 63-year-old, Wishaw-born businessman is one of the technology leaders in Seattle, on the west coast of the United States, where he has been president, chief executive and director of the company F5 Networks since July 2000.

He took over the company just a few months before the bottom fell out of the dot-com market – and as nearly all of F5’s customers at that time were dot-coms, he faced a mountain to climb. But climb it he did, acquiring seven companies, boosting profits and expanding to 3,500 employees.

F5’s software, called ‘application traffic management’, manages internet traffic in a highly advanced way, improving the performance, efficiency and security with which Web information is stored in data centres. F5 is now the dominant company in the industry; its software has found its way into the data centres of major consumer-driven companies such as Facebook.

Born in Craigneuk, he was the first in his family to go to university. He studied physics, chemistry and maths in his first year and left for a job at the local technology firm Honeywell. However, he was soon back after Honeywell gave him a scholarship to continue with his studies – this time, in computer science.

John frequently lectures to MBA students. His advice is: ‘Identify where the big trends are happening and build expertise in these areas.’ Part of the secret of his own success has been, he says, hiring the right people.

He adds: ‘I talk about the University a lot. I was just so pleased to get that degree [a 1^st class Honours] – it’s been good for my career.’

John was awarded the title of 2013 Executive of the Year by the Puget Sound Business Journal. Previous holders of the annual award include Jeff Raikes, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

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