Larry Brilliant

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Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Brilliant is a medical doctor, epidemiologist, technologist, author and philanthropist.

Born in Detroit, Michigan (May 5, 1944), he received his undergraduate training as well as his MPH (Masters in Public Health) from the University of Michigan and his M.D. from Wayne State University. He moved to California for his internship at the Pacific Medical Center, and developed thyroid cancer from which he recovered. Brilliant is board certified in preventive medicine and public health.

As a young man he lived in India for ten years, first at a Himalayan ashram studying with Neem Karoli Baba (a Hindu sage) from whom he received the name Subramanyum. Later at his guru's insistance he began working as a diplomat for the United Nations. He was one of the leaders of the successful World Health Organization (WHO) smallpox eradication program.

When he returned to the United States, he became a professor of international health at the University of Michigan. In 1985 he co-founded, with Stewart Brand, The Well, a prototypic online community that has been the subject of multiple books and studies. Time and Wired magazines call him a "technology visionary".

Brilliant is also the founder and Chairman of the international health nonprofit, the Seva Foundation. Seva's projects in Tibet, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Tanzania, Mexico and Guatemala have given back sight to more than 2 million blind people through surgery, self sufficient eye care systems, and low cost manufacturing of intraocular lenses. One important contribution of his was his helping to set up the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India.

Brilliant, a technology patent holder, has been CEO of two public companies and other venture backed start ups. He spent the first half of 2005 as a volunteer helping out in the tsunami in Sri Lanka and working in India with WHO in the campaign to eradicate polio.

In 2005 he was awarded the TED Prize, granting him $100,000 and 'One Wish to Change the World' which he presented at TED in February 2006. As his prize nominator summed up, "'Dr. Brilliant' is a name to live up to, and he has."^{[citation needed]}

On 22 February 2006, Google Inc. appointed him as the Executive Director of Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google.^[1]

Brilliant currently lives with his wife Girija and has three children Joe, Jon, and Iris Brilliant.