Jim Gagnard (EE ‘69), Life Trustee

Jim Gagnard, life trustee, Illinois Institute of Technology, currently serves as managing director of the Rocket Wagon Industrial IoT Studio. He has over 30 years of executive management experience leading enterprise software companies. As a result of his commitment to software innovation, he has worked closely with the venture capital community, and strategic investors, to raise over $80 million.

Gagnard was chairman and CEO of SmartSignal Corporation and led several privately-funded software companies including Diffusion, Launchpoint, Questra, and Trinzic Corporation. In addition, he has held senior management positions with Pansophic Systems, Control Data, and IBM. 

Gagnard is a life trustee at Illinois Institute of Technology, currently serving as advisor to the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship and Armour College of Engineering, member of the Facilities and Safety Committee, and former board member of the Alumni Association. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Vertex Analytics, A3 Solutions, and Private Directors Association; and is a venture partner at Hyde Park Venture Partners.

Gagnard was named one of Crain’s Chicago Business Tech 50 leaders to know in 2016.