Megan Smith

In September 2014, President Obama named Megan Smith the United States Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this role, she serves as an Assistant to the President. As U.S. CTO, Smith focuses on how technology policy, data, and innovation can advance the future of our nation. Megan Smith is an award-winning entrepreneur, engineer, and tech evangelist. She most recently served as a vice president at Google, first leading new business development, where for nine years she managed early-stage partnerships, pilot explorations, and technology licensing across Google’s global engineering and product teams. She later served as a VP in the leadership team at Google[x], where she co-created the company’s “SolveForX” innovation community project, as well as its “WomenTechmakers” tech-diversity initiative. During her tenure she led the company’s acquisitions of major platforms such as Google Earth, Google Maps, and Picasa, and also served as GM of Google.org during its engineering transition; adding Google Crisis Response, Google for Nonprofits, and Earth Outreach/Engine, and increasing employee engagement. Megan previously served as CEO of PlanetOut, a leading LGBT online community in the early days of the web, where the team broke through many barriers and partnered closely with AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, and other major web players. Megan was part of designing early smartphone technologies at General Magic and worked on multimedia products at Apple Japan. Over the years, Megan has contributed to a wide range of engineering projects, including an award-winning bicycle lock, space station construction program, and solar cookstoves. She was a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student team that designed, built, and raced a solar car 2000 miles across the Australian outback. Megan has served on the boards of MIT, MIT Media Lab, MIT Technology Review, and Vital Voices; as a member of the USAID Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid; and as an advisor to the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and the Malala Fund, which she co-founded. She holds a bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT, where she completed her master's thesis work at the MIT Media Lab.