Jeff Jonas has been named an IBM fellow, according to a blog post on The Smarter Planet blog. IBM named seven new IBM Fellows earlier this week. Jonas’ official title is Chief Scientist, Entity Analytics with the IBM Software Group, Information Management. We obviously think the world of him – he has been a featured speaker at our Structure Data events twice. He is a colorful guy and I personally love hanging out with him and discussing the future of our society in the data age.

Here is what IBM has to say about him in the official bio:

The colorful software personality fit the Strip like a well-coiffed Elvis impersonator. “I fell in love with Vegas and Vegas fell in love with me,” quipped Jeff, whose annual New Year’s Eve bashes became legendary even in a town known for its parties.

Jeff designed and implemented a first-of-its-kind paperless employment system for Mirage Resorts, which was engaged in a massive hiring effort in advance of the grand opening of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. “Later, I became very involved in automating casino security,” Jeff recalled. “Casinos can lose their gaming licenses if they do business with bad guys on the regulators’ exclusionary list. At SRD, we developed a technology known as Non-Obvious Relationship Awareness (NORA), which is a way to out-smart the bad guys and identify cheats on the exclusionary list even if they are using aliases.”

This technology—which is used by law enforcement and in various industries requiring industrial-strength fraud detection—made SRD an attractive acquisition target as IBM sought to enhance its security software analytics portfolio. In 2005, IBM acquired SRD and the NORA product, currently in its in fifth generation, is now known as IBM InfoSphere® Identity Insight.

To understand him better, I would urge you to watch his interview with me and then his presentation at Structure Data 2012.

STRUCTURE DATA 2012: