The Well co-founder Larry Brilliant has accepted the position as the executive director of Google’s philanthropic endeavor, Google.org. Larry Brilliant brings a combination of medical background and technological savvy to his new job…
… as Google.org’s first executive director. USA Today reported on Brilliant’s selection for the position.
Google.org, the search advertising company’s billion-dollar charitable arm, focuses on “several areas including global poverty, energy and the environment.” A Google spokesperson said in the report they chose Brilliant for his experience in battling blindness and smallpox across the globe.
The article further detailed Brilliant’s motivation to join Google and what it means for future philanthropic works by the organization:
Brilliant said he took the job because it combines two subjects – health and technology – that have been his life’s work. He said he also was drawn by the “don’t be evil” corporate mantra advanced by the online search giant’s founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. “This ‘don’t be evil’ slogan permeates every cell in their being,” he said.
Brilliant said his medical background did not signal an impending shift by Google.org to fighting disease, a field now dominated by the Gates foundation. Rather, improving health is an integral part of fighting poverty. “It’s two sides of the same coin,” he said.
USA Today also noted a tangential connection between Brilliant and a former Googler. Ex-executive chef Charlie Ayers joined Google after a long stint as the Grateful Dead’s chef. Brilliant was a one-time Deadhead who became the band’s physician and now sits on the advisory board of the Dead’s Rex Foundation.
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David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
