Aneesh Chopra

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Aneesh Chopra
Aneesh Chopra.jpg
1st Chief Technology Officer of the United States
In office
May 2009 – February 2012[1]
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Todd Park[2]
4th Secretary of Technology of Virginia
In office
January 2006 – April 2009
Governor Tim Kaine
Preceded by Eugene J. Huang
Succeeded by Leonard M. Pomata
Personal details
Born (1972-07-13) July 13, 1972 (age 40)[3]
Trenton, New Jersey, United States[4]
Political party Democratic Party
Spouse(s) Rohini Dhir[5][6]
Alma mater Johns Hopkins University
Harvard University

Aneesh Paul Chopra served as the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States (CTO), appointed by President Barack Obama. Chopra previously served as Virginia’s fourth Secretary of Technology. As of 2013, Chopra is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.

Contents

Background [edit]

He was born in 1972 in Trenton, New Jersey, the eldest son of Indian immigrants Ram and Neelam Chopra.[6] He grew up in West Windsor Township, New Jersey, also known as Princeton Junction, New Jersey, and attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South from 1986-1990.[7] In 2009, Chopra was awarded the Alumni Achiever Award by the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. Chopra graduated with his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University, and his M.P.P. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

He was elected as a Boys Nation Senator to represent American Legion Jersey Boys State in 1989.[8]

After his studies, Chopra was Managing Director for the Advisory Board Company, a health care think tank for hospitals and health systems. While there, he led the firm’s Financial Leadership Council and the Working Council for Health Plan Executives.[9][10] Virginia Governor Tim Kaine appointed Chopra to be Virginia's fourth Secretary of Technology.[11] He served in this position until 2009 when he was selected by President Barack Obama to be the first "Chief Technology Officer" for the White House.

On announcing Chopra's nomination, President Obama outlined his aims for the CTO. "As Chief Technology Officer, Chopra's job will be to promote technological innovation to help the country meet its goals such as job creation, reducing health care costs, and protecting the homeland. Together with Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, their jobs are to make the government more effective, efficient, and transparent."[12] Chopra's appointment was confirmed by the Senate on May 21, 2009.[13]

On the December 9, 2009 episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Chopra was featured in a segment in which a series of video clips were shown of him laughing as he went through an explanation of the Open Government Initiative. During the segment, host Jon Stewart referred to Chopra as the "Indian George Clooney."[14][15]

Chopra voluntarily left the White House in early 2012, speculatively to run for office in Virginia.[16]

On July 12, 2012, Chopra announced his candidacy for the office of Lieutenant Governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia.[17] On April 2, 2013, The Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA) certified that Chopra's name would appear on the June primary ballot, along with that of State Senator Ralph Northam.[18]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Ashely Southall (01/27/2012). "Top Technology Official Leaving the White House". New York Times. Retrieved 03/13/2012. 
  2. ^ Hart, Kim (03/11/2012). "At SXSW, Todd Park talks startups". Politico. Retrieved 03/13/2012. 
  3. ^ Linnell, Lisa Prezioso; Hayes, Heather B. (1 Feb 2008), "The collaborative strategist", Virginia Business (Virginia Business Publications), virginabusiness.com 
  4. ^ "Introducing Aneesh Chopra: America’s CTO", The Indofiles, 18 Apr 2009, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2010 
  5. ^ http://www.netcaucus.org/biography/aneesh-chopra.shtml
  6. ^ a b http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/AneeshChopraTestimony.pdf
  7. ^ Tracy, Ryan. "Obama taps WW-PS alum for technology post", The Times (Trenton), April 21, 2009. Accessed February 22, 2011. "President Obama has picked a graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School to be the nation's first chief technology officer. Aneesh Chopra, 36, graduated from West Windsor's south campus in 1990 and spent the last three years as secretary of technology under Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine."
  8. ^ http://www.aljbs.org/cgi-bin/results.cgi/govsens.
  9. ^ Office Info Bio."Aneesh Paul Chopra, Secretary of Technology", "Virginia.gov", accessed August 18, 2009.
  10. ^ http://www.executivebiz.com/newsletter-executives-detail.php?who=achopra&check=1
  11. ^ "The Honorable Aneesh P. Chopra". VITA. Retrieved 19 April 2012. 
  12. ^ Press Release," Whitehouse.gov, 18 April 2009
  13. ^ "Confirmations". Congressional Record Online. Government Printing Office. 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2011-03-03. 
  14. ^ Video of Aneesh Chopra on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart discussing the Open Government Initiative, on December 9, 2009
  15. ^ Video of Aneesh Chopra Aneesh takes his Daily Show appearance in stride in December, 2009
  16. ^ O'Keefe, Ed (01/27/2012). "Aneesh Chopra leaving the White House, likely to run for Virginia lieutenant governor". Washington Post. Retrieved 14 April 2012. 
  17. ^ Kumar, Anita (July 12, 2012). "Aneesh Chopra to run for Virginia lieutenant governor". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 10, 2012. 
  18. ^ Walker, Julian (April 2, 2013). "McAuliffe named Dem governor nominee, 4 others make ballot". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved April 3, 2013. 

External links [edit]

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