We are excited to share that Red Hat president and CEO Jim Whitehurst was named CEO of the Year as part of the 2016 SIIA Company CODiE Awards. This is the first year for the Company CODiE awards to be given and marks the first time that the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), a leading trade association for the software and digital content industries, has bestowed this honor on a technology industry leader.

Whitehurst was selected by a panel of peers as CEO of the Year based on several factors, including his leadership qualities, impact on Red Hat associate satisfaction, and role in Red Hat's outstanding accomplishments and community contributions over the past year.

The CODiE Awards are peer-reviewed awards that showcase business and education technology’s products and services. For 30 years, SIIA has bestowed awards on software, information and education technology companies for achieving excellence in products and services. An SIIA Company CODiE Award win is welcome recognition of Red Hat’s accomplishments for 2016.

The honor comes a few months after Whitehurst received the 2016 EY Technology Entrepreneur of the Year Southeast award. The EY Entrepreneur of the Year Southeast awards were selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous winners of the award, leading CEOs, private capital investors, and other regional business leaders. Earlier this year, employer review website Glassdoor named Whitehurst as one of its top 10 highest rated CEOs, based on employee approval ratings.

Congratulations, Jim, on this well deserved honor!