Greg Adams

Greg earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree from Princeton University in 1976 and a master’s in science and management from M.I.T. in 1989. He joined IBM in 1976, and worked his way up to the company’s senior leadership team, most recently as a managing director in the financial services sector. Throughout his time at IBM, he held positions in sales, marketing, operations, reengineering & quality, and general management. Early in his career, he had assignments in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Boston, Nashville and New York. After that, he served as managing director of operations and board member for IBM Japan in Tokyo. After working for IBM for 37 year, in July of 2013 he joined Governor Haslam’s senior team, serving as the first Chief Operating Officer for the State of Tennessee until February 2019. In the governor’s effort to make Tennessee the best-managed state in the nation, Greg’s role was to work with state departments to ensure they were operating in the most efficient way possible. $575 million was cut in recurring spending, state government was shrunk, the budget balanced every year, the state’s savings account was tripled and Tennessee has been awarded a triple AAA bond rating the last two years. In addition, under Governor Haslam, Tennessee is recognized as a national leader in education and economic development. He has been married to his wife, Jeannine, for 44 years and has three married children and ten grandchildren.

Greg Adams’s Contributions

Guest speaker recording The Table podcast

Living out Faith in Business and Government

In this episode, Dr. Darrell Bock and Greg Adams discuss the intersection of faith and work,…
September 1, 2020
Dr. Bock and guests recording The Table podcast

Faith Journey: Public Company and State Government

Greg Adams, once employed by IBM and the state of Tennessee, talks with Dr. Darrell Bock…
February 28, 2020

Dallas Theological Seminary

Interested in pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree in ministry?
More about the Seminary