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 and innovation can advance the future of our nation.
Megan Smith is an award-winning entrepreneur, engineer, and tech evangelist, most recently serving as a Vice President at Google[x], where she worked on a range of projects and co-created the company’s “SolveForX” innovation community project as well as its “WomenTechmakers” tech-diversity initiative.
She was the VP of New Business Development at Google, where she managed early-stage partnerships, pilot explorations, and technology licensing across Google’s global engineering and product teams for nine years prior. She also led the company’s acquisitions of major platforms such as Google Earth, Google Maps, and Picasa and served as GM of Google.org during its engineering transition. Megan previously served as CEO of PlanetOut, a leading Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender online community, and helped design early smartphone technologies at General Magic. She also 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 2,000 miles across the Australian outback.
She 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.
