Google's Megan Smith Would Be First US CTO Worthy of the Title

theodp writes: Bloomberg is reporting that Google X's Megan Smith is the top candidate for U.S. Chief Technology Officer. With a BS/MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and experience ranging from General Magic to Google, Smith would arguably be the first U.S. CTO worthy of the title (the outgoing U.S. CTO has a bachelor's in Econ; his predecessor has a master's in Public Policy). "Smith joined Google in 2003. As vice president of business development, she oversaw many of its most important acquisitions, like Keyhole, the service that underlies Google Earth. She has led the company’s philanthropic division, Google.org, and served as a co-host for Google’s Solve for X forum, where distinguished thinkers and scientists brainstorm radical technology ideas with Google executives."

Comments

Story is false

[kamapuaa]

From the link BY THE FUCKING CONTRIBUTOR HIMSELF:

Prior to his career in government, Park was the co-founder of two successful health information technology companies.

So a man who started two IT companies by the age of 35 doesn't have a background in Technology, because he got a graduate degree in business?

Re:Does this office need Congressional approval?

[Charliemopps]

Because while she is quite qualified for the position I can bet that some in Congress will not only have an issue with her gender but also her sexual orientation.

Note that I do not believe this should be an issue at all, but reality is often different from what we would hope.

Trust me, congress doesn't give a crap about who or what she is. What they care about is if they can use her to hurt their political opponents.

Re:As a girl working in tech...

[serviscope_minor]

I hate to see things like this happen.

What appointing a CTO based on the fact that the CTO is actually substantially more expert in technology than any of the previous CTOs appointed in that position?

Appointing her just because she is female cheapens what I've done.

You seem to be assuming that the reason she's being picked is something other than her track record---a track record which is impressive. That reflects more on you than on her or the people who picked her.

Just as the joke of a new CEO of Microsoft who was picked for his race pisses off my Indian friends, this is the same deal.

If your friends are claiming that Microsoft would poor candidates based on race then I'd advise to inquire how they think Microsoft chose Ballmer. He's white in case you hadn't noticed and was terrible.