Open Compute Project Foundation Announces New Board Member Jim Hawkins

The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) announces that Jim Hawkins will serve on its Board of Directors. Jim replaces Brian Stein, who has served for the last year as the Rackspace representative. The OCVP Foundation would like to thank Brian for contributing his time and talents to the OCP Community.

The OCP Foundation and Community is effective because our board members, volunteer leadership, and Community members give their time and talents to help promote open solutions; driving innovations forward at a pace that simply could not occur if attempted alone. They lead by example and they lead with passion. The Foundation, the Community, and our many collaboration partners are better together.

Jim joins board members Andy Bechtolsheim, Bill Laing (Microsoft), Joshua Matheus (Goldman Sachs), Jason Waxman (Intel), Rocky Bullock (OCP), and Mark Roenigk (Facebook), serving as Chairman.

“Jim is a great addition to the OCP Board. His experience in scaling mission critical infrastructure in both enterprise and cloud technologies will help shape the future of OCP. We really appreciate the depth of experience that he brings to this role and his ongoing contributions to the success of the Open Compute Project” stated Mark Roenigk, Chairman and President of the Board for the Open Compute Project Foundation.

About Jim Hawkins

Jim Hawkins is the vice president of global data center operations and engineering at Rackspace, where he oversees the company’s worldwide network of data centers, hardware engineering, and other critical infrastructure operations.

Jim joined Rackspace in 2008, initially serving as director of operational excellence. Since then, he has held several positions, including director of U.S. data centers and senior director of global data center operations. 

Jim has brought a number of strengths to these roles, including a specialized knowledge of Lean Six Sigma methodology and operational discipline. While serving in each of his roles at Rackspace, he incorporated his knowledge of these principles into the design and daily operation of Rackspace’s mission critical infrastructure, and has been a proponent of the Open Compute Project since its inception in 2011.

Jim earned his BS in marketing at Westminster College and received his MBA from Purdue University.