Transnational Challenges in Information Technology and Data Security
Dr. Chris White
Managing Director, Special Projects
Microsoft
Our September speaker is uniquely qualified to illuminate the growing concern about the impact of disruptive technologies on the global future.. Chris White is Managing Director, Special Projects. He leads mission-oriented research and software development teams focusing on high risk problems. Dr. White has a background in EE, with a PhD in machine learning for speech and language from Johns Hopkins. He was a Fellow at Harvard for graph statistics and machine learning before spending time in the field.
He served as chief data officer for DARPA in Afghanistan, and then as country lead with oversight of all battlefield research programs. Upon return, his DARPA programs invested hundreds of millions of dollars into open source software. His work has been applied to countering human trafficking, financial fraud, and terrorism, and has received awards from the White House, Defense, and Treasury departments. In 2016 President Obama awarded him a Presidential Medal for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Since coming to Microsoft Research, he has worked in Special Projects, helping build multiple disruptive technologies before becoming Managing Director.
A native Oklahoman, Chris has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma State University.
For an insightful introduction to Chris White’s thoughts, watch this short video: