Voices Driving Innovation: Jim Hamerly Gets Bored Easily - And That's His Superpower

Most college students don't walk into their professor's office nearly every single day. Juliet Correnti did.

Fifteen years later, when Correnti purchased Radeus Labs, she asked that same professor, Jim Hamerly, to join her advisory board. Not because he knew satellite systems or ruggedized computing. Because he knew how to build teams that don't implode.

"Juliet came into my office almost every day," Hamerly recalls. "Most students don't take that opportunity. She did."

Today, Hamerly serves on Radeus's Board of Directors while managing a 20-acre forest on Palomar Mountain (100 giant sequoia trees he grew from seed), advising startup founders, and interviewing prospective MIT students.

"I've had five careers," Hamerly says. Then he pauses. "Actually, I've retired four times."

The Pattern: Dive In, Master It, Move On

The pattern started in the 1960s at Teradyne in Boston, where Hamerly was a founding engineer on a semiconductor testing startup that became wildly successful. MIT undergrad. Who then completed a Berkeley master's degree. Then he did something unusual: he quit and went back to school again.

"I worked, went back for my master's, worked again, then went back for my PhD at Carnegie Mellon," he explains. "I've always had this pattern of diving in, learning everything I can, then switching gears."

After Carnegie Mellon came Xerox, where for 16 years Hamerly led teams that had no business working together: anthropologists, psychologists, physicists, engineers.

That's where his philosophy crystallized: hire people who disagree with you.

"The instinct in a startup is to hire people like yourself because it's comfortable," he says. "I do the opposite. I already know how to do what I do. I don't need yes-people. I need people who'll challenge me, who have skills I don't."

Managing Chaos at 500 Miles Per Hour

In the mid-90s, Hamerly worked at Page Software as VP of Engineering, becoming Steve Jobs's largest independent software vendor for the NeXT platform.

Then Jim co-founded DigitalStlye Corporation. DigitalStyle pivoted hard into the internet and got acquired by Netscape within two years.

Shortly, Hamerly was Vice President managing the Mozilla browser team.

Then the mergers started. Netscape got acquired by AOL. AOL merged with Time Warner. In four years, Hamerly went through three acquisitions, managing sprawling teams in Dulles, Mountain View, and San Diego, thousands of miles apart.

"I was on a plane every week," he says. "Three days in Mountain View, then swing by Dulles. It was exhausting."

Remote work wasn't trendy then. It was survival. And Hamerly hated it.

"You've got to really know your people to make remote work," he says. "I'd rather be in the same room."

"The interpersonal stuff, social and emotional intelligence, culture, how well you work with others, that's often more important than the technical skills."

The Radical Shift: From Boardrooms to First-Gen Students

After AOL Time Warner, Hamerly retired from corporate life and became a professor. First at UC San Diego, then at Cal State San Marcos, where he eventually became dean of the College of Business Administration.

The reason? First-generation college students.

"Over half our students were the first in their family to go to college," Hamerly says. "I'm first-gen myself. These weren't kids from wealthy families, but they had a good work ethic, and that's everything."

He built professional development programs teaching students how to network, ask for help, and leverage mentorship.

The Advisory Board That Balances Itself

When Correnti purchased Radeus Labs, Hamerly joined her advisory board, then later the Board of Directors.

"Juliet's a great leader," he says simply. "Watching her grow the company has been one of the most rewarding parts of what I do."

Radeus isn't trying to be Dell or IBM. It's doing something harder: listening. The company builds customized computing platforms for specialized applications, often military, where requirements like radiation hardening and security compliance are non-negotiable.

"If you need a computing platform that does something unique," Hamerly explains, "Radeus will design it, build it, and deliver it on time. That's rare."

The company's SATCOM division, launched ten years ago, now has control systems deployed worldwide for internet, TV, and satellite communications.

Hamerly isn't the only heavy hitter on the board. There's David Grooms, a defense industry veteran with deep connections across the military ecosystem. And Alex C. Eng, a finance specialist who manages billions in mergers and acquisitions for a major French firm.

"David knows everyone in defense," Hamerly says. "Alex is probably the best M&A person I've ever worked with, and I've worked with a lot of them."

The three balance each other: technical insight, industry access, financial rigor.

"That's the whole point," Hamerly says. "You don't hire people like yourself. You hire people who bring what you don't have."

Planting a Forest That Will Outlive Us All

After retiring from academia, Hamerly didn't slow down. He went deeper into the woods, literally.

On Palomar Mountain, he founded Sequoia Sentinels, a grassroots nonprofit promoting sequoia afforestation across Southern California. He raises the trees from seed, plants them on his 20-acre property, and distributes them to growers worldwide.

"Sequoias live 3,000 years and grow up to 40 feet in diameter," he says. "They're just a beautiful tree. It's a legacy project. I'm planting something that'll be here long after I'm gone."

He's in contact with 100 growers across nearly every continent, exchanging data on how the trees adapt to new climates; it's forestry meets climate adaptation research.

"I manage the whole forest on Palomar myself," Hamerly adds. "I don't hire anyone. I do all the work."

Both require patience. Both require systems. Both require a willingness to invest in something bigger than yourself.

Still Planting Seeds

At 70-plus, Hamerly still advises startups, interviews prospective MIT students, and shows up for the Radeus team.

"What I admire most about Radeus," he says, "is their adaptability. They listen. They respond to real customer needs. That's what keeps a company relevant."

He's also still planting trees.

"I have very diverse interests," he says with a shrug. "I don't watch much TV."

That's one way to put it. Another way: Jim Hamerly has spent five careers learning how to build things that last (companies, teams, forests) and he's not done yet.

Because for Hamerly, retirement isn't about stopping. It's about planting the next seed and seeing what grows.

About Voices Driving Innovation

Radeus Labs' ongoing interview series featuring the engineers, advisors, and industry leaders shaping the future of high-performance computing, SATCOM systems, and mission-critical technology.

Where Is the Radeus Team Next?

SC25 in St. Louis, MO

Come find us November 16-21 in St. Louis at Booth 6833 at SC25, the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis is a premier event that brings together thousands of HPC professionals, researchers, and developers for an exhilarating week of technical sessions, exhibits, and networking opportunities. Stop by our booth or schedule a meeting with us!