Google[x] VP Megan Smith Busts Silicon Ceiling As First Female US CTO

Megan Smith and new deputy US CTO Alexander Macgillivray will bring engineering talent, policy expertise, and deep understanding of the intersection of tech and society to the White House.  

Today, the Obama administration confirmed what CNET, Fortune Magazine, and Bloomberg News had reported last week: Megan Smith, a vice president at Google[x], will be the next US chief technology officer (CTO). In a blog post at WhiteHouse.gov, John Holdren, the assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where the US CTO serves, announced that Smith will be the next US CTO and Assistant to the President and that former Twitter general counsel Alexander Macgillivray will serve as a deputy US CTO.

"Megan has spent her career leading talented teams and taking cutting-edge technology and innovation initiatives from concept to design to deployment," said President Barack Obama, in the blog post. "I am confident that in her new role as America's Chief Technology Officer, she will put her long record of leadership and exceptional skills to work on behalf of the American people. I am grateful for her commitment to serve, and I look forward to working with her and with our new Deputy U.S. CTO, Alexander Macgillivray, in the weeks and months ahead."

Smith will replace Todd Park, who officially stepped down last week and moved west to Silicon Valley this month to recruit technologists to work for Uncle Sam, and Macgillivray will take over former deputy US CTO Nicole Wong's portfolio of internet policy and privacy. Neither the White House, Smith, nor Macgillivray responded to my request for additional comment, though both the new US CTO tweeted and the outgoing US CTO tweeted about the announcement...