Dr. D.J. Patil, the U.S. Chief Data Scientist at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from February 2015 to January 2017, was today recognized as first-ever U.S. Chief Data Officer of the Year 2016 by the CDO Club, the world’s largest community of C-suite digital and data leaders.
In 2015, Dr. Patil was appointed by President Barack Obama to be the first-ever U.S. Chief Data Scientist. In leading the country’s national data efforts, he helped establish nearly 40 Chief Data Officer roles across the Federal government.
Dr. Patil also established new health care programs including the Precision Medicine Initiative and the Cancer Moonshot, and new criminal justice reforms including the Data-Driven Justice and Police Data Initiatives that cover more than 94 million Americans.
“There were many deserving nominees for the first-ever U.S. Chief Data Officer of the Year award, but none more accomplished than Dr. D.J. Patil,” remarked David Mathison, CEO of the CDO Club and CDO Summit.
“D.J. has consistently proven himself to be a reliable, loyal, and dedicated public servant, selflessly applying his many talents for the public good. In government, academia, and the private sector, his intelligence, enthusiasm, optimism, innovative ideas, business savvy, effective communication skills, and solution-oriented approaches have delivered tremendous value to his colleagues, shareholders and investors. For all these reasons and more, I am delighted to name D.J. as the world’s first-ever Chief Data Officer of the Year,” said Mathison.
Dr. Patil has been granted numerous patents and gained global recognition for his efforts, including “The World’s 7 Most Powerful Data Scientists” by Forbes, “36 of Tech’s Most Powerful Disruptors” by CNN, and a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum, among others.
In 2016, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter awarded Dr. Patil with the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the highest honor the department bestows on a private citizen.
As an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow for the Department of Defense, Dr. Patil directed new efforts to leverage social network analysis and the melding of computational and social sciences to anticipate emerging threats to the US.
In the private sector, D.J. led the product teams at RelateIQ (acquired by Salesforce); was founding board member for Crisis Text Line which works to use new technologies to provide on demand mental and crisis support; and was a member of the venture firm Greylock Partners.
He previously served as Chief Scientist, Chief Security Officer and Head of Analytics and Data Product Teams at the LinkedIn Corporation where he co-coined the term Data Scientist, and held a number of roles at Skype, PayPal, and eBay.
As a member of the faculty at the University of Maryland, his research focused on nonlinear dynamics and chaos theory. He helped start a major research initiative on numerical weather prediction.
Dr. Patil earned his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Maryland College Park in 2001. He earned a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of California San Diego in 1996.
While this is the first-ever U.S. Chief Data Officer of the Year award, the CDO Club recently gave the first-ever Australia/New Zealand Chief Data Officer of the Year award to Simon Bligh, CEO of Dun & Bradstreet ANZ.
Previous global Chief Digital Officer of the Year award winners include Linda Boff, CMO at GE; Adam Brotman, Chief Digital Officer at Starbucks Coffee Company; Rachael S. Haot, former Chief Digital Officer of New York City and New York State; Teddy Goff, former Digital Director at Obama for America in 2008 and 2012; Patrick Hoffstetter, Chief Digital Officer at Renault; Tanya Cordrey, former Chief Digital Officer at Guardian News and Media; Mike Bracken, former Chief Digital Officer at U.K.’s Government Digital Service; Clive Dickens, Chief Digital Officer at Seven West Media; and Rebekah Horne, Chief Digital Officer at the National Rugby League.
About the CDO Club
The CDO Club is the world’s largest community of C-suite digital and data leaders. Its 5,000+ registered members receive access to breaking news, original research, career development support, and networking opportunities. For more information, visit: http://CDOClub.com.
About the CDO Summit
The CDO Summit addresses the challenges and opportunities arising from big data, the cloud, digital disruption, and social and mobile media. CDO Summit gatherings include the very best digital and data strategists and practitioners on Earth, speaking in intimate, collegial, and supportive environments designed to encourage networking, learning, and knowledge-sharing.
The next CDO Summits are in NYC in May 2017, and Washington DC in June 2017. For more information, visit CDOSummit.com.
