Michael Kratsios

Michael John Kotsakas Kratsios (born November 7, 1986)[1] is an American government official. He serves as the current Chief Technology Officer of the United States, and Deputy Assistant to the President at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.[2] In this role, Kratsios serves as one of President Donald Trump's top technology advisors.[3] Since July 10, 2020, Kratsios has also been Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

Michael Kratsios
4th Chief Technology Officer of the United States
Assumed office
August 2, 2019
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byMegan Smith
Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
Assumed office
July 10, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byMichael D. Griffin
Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer
In office
February 2017 – August 2019
PresidentDonald Trump
Personal details
Born
Michael John Kotsakas Kratsios

(1986-11-07) November 7, 1986
Columbia, South Carolina
Political partyRepublican
Alma materPrinceton University (B.A.)

Education

Kratsios' family has hails from Volissos, Chios, in Greece.[4] He graduated from Richland Northeast High School in Columbia, South Carolina, in 2004.[5] He then studied at Princeton University and graduated with a B.A. in politics and a certificate in Hellenic studies in 2008.[6][7][8][9] Kratsios completed a 125-page long senior thesis, titled "Economics and Voting in the Third Hellenic Republic: An Aggregate and Individual-Level Analysis of the Greek Electorate, 1985-2007," under the supervision of Markus Prior.[10] He was a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing.[2]

Career

While in college, Kratsios was an intern for U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and editor-in-chief and president of Business Today.[3][11][12] Following his time at Princeton, he worked for Barclays Capital and Lyford Group International, and later served as the chief financial officer of Clarium Capital Management.[12][13]

Prior to joining the Trump administration as deputy assistant to the president, Kratsios was a principal at Thiel Capital and served as chief of staff to entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.[6][14][15]

Trump administration

White House

At the White House, Kratsios has advocated for the promotion of emerging technologies in the United States.[16] Under his leadership, the White House hosted the American Leadership in Emerging Technology Summit during the Administration's Technology Week in June 2017.[17][18] Kratsios is currently leading the administration's efforts on Artificial Intelligence.[19] He also led the White House effort to integrate drones into the national airspace system, resulting in a presidential memorandum signed October 25, 2017, that called for the establishment of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program.[20][21][22][23]

In September 2017, Kratsios served as the U.S. Head of Delegation at the G7 ICT Ministerial in Turin, Italy.[24] In August 2018, Kratsios served as the U.S. Head of Delegation at the G20 Digital Economic Ministerial in Argentina.[25] He worked with U.S. allies, including in the G7, to counter China in AI policy,[26] and during his tenure, the U.S. joined the Global Partnership on AI.[27]

In March 2019, the White House announced that Trump would nominate Kratsios as the next U.S. CTO and an associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.[28] On August 1, 2019, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to confirm him as the fourth U.S. CTO.[29]

Department of Defense
Kratsios' official Pentagon photo

On July 13, 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Kratsios would serve as its Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.[30][31][32]

gollark: New clothes units of the kind I tend to wear cost slightly over £20, and America uses "dollars", which are worth less.
gollark: Also, that number is me picking a vaguely plausible round number, and I imagine they can be acquired more cheaply.
gollark: You don't need to repurchase them all every year.
gollark: On the other hand, giving people useless things they discard after 295 attoseconds helps with social bonding, and because something something decision fatigue giving people more options may actually be mean.
gollark: Therefore, you should just not transfer gifts.

References
  1. Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton Alumni Weekly. 1986. p. 57. PRNC:32101081978148. John Kratsios *85 writes that his second child. Michael John, was born Nov. 7, 1986.
  2. "Turin G7 Ministerial Ind. – U.S. Delegation: Michael Kratsios". United States Department of State. September 25, 2017. Michael graduated from Princeton University and served as a Visiting Scholar at Beijing’s Tsinghua University.
  3. MacMillan, Douglas (November 13, 2017). "Michael Kratsios Plays Peacemaker Between Trump and Tech". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017.
  4. Voria.gr. "Από τη Χίο ο νέος υφυπουργός Άμυνας των ΗΠΑ, Μιχάλης Κράτσιος-Κοτσακάς". Από τη Χίο ο νέος υφυπουργός Άμυνας των ΗΠΑ, Μιχάλης Κράτσιος-Κοτσακάς. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  5. "Richland School District Two - Junior Scholars Recognized".
  6. Waldman, Scott (February 14, 2018). "Will Trump name a scientist? A poli-sci grad runs the show". Environment & Energy Publishing. Archived from the original on March 18, 2018.
  7. University, Princeton. "Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies – Certificate Students – Princeton University". www.princeton.edu. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  8. Kratsios, Michael John Kotsakas (April 8, 2008). "Economic and Voting in the Third Hellenic Republic: An Aggregate and Individual-Level Analysis of the Greek Electorate, 1985-2018" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 29, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  9. Karuppur, Abhiram (April 4, 2017). "April 4, 2017: Kratsios '08 Joins White House Tech Office; Astronomer Ruiz *75 Honored; and More". Princeton University. Michael Kratsios ’08, formerly the chief of staff for Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, was named the White House’s deputy chief technology officer by President Donald Trump.
  10. Kratsios, Michael J.K. Prior, Markus; Princeton University. Department of Politics (eds.). "Economics and Voting in the Third Hellenic Republic: An Aggregate and Individual-Level Analysis of the Greek Electorate, 1985-2007". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "Carroll Publishing - Government News". www.carrollpublishing.com. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  12. Kratsios, Michael. "Tsinghua Principles of Economics Lecture 1". Scribd. p. 3.
  13. Conger, Kate (March 3, 2017). "Thiel's chief of staff tapped as White House deputy CTO". TechCrunch. Prior to his work at Thiel Capital, Kratsios was the chief financial officer of Clarium Capital Management, another fund company founded by Thiel.
  14. Bruno, Giovanni (March 3, 2017). "Trump Taps Kratsios as the White House Chief Technology Officer". TheStreet. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  15. Kang, Cecilia; Shear, Michael D. (March 30, 2017). "Trump Leaves Science Jobs Vacant, Troubling Critics". The New York Times. Mr. Trump has not yet named his top advisers on technology or science, and so far, has made just one hire: Michael Kratsios, the former chief of staff for Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley investor and one of the president’s wealthiest supporters, as the deputy chief technology officer.
  16. "In HHS Innovation Day speech, Kratsios offers a little insight into Trump's OSTP - Fedscoop". Fedscoop. December 13, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  17. "The White House Hosts American Leadership in Emerging Technology Event". The White House. June 29, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  18. "Trump will discuss drones, wireless tech with investors, execs". Axios. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  19. "Why the US Needs a Strategy for AI" – via www.wired.com.
  20. Editorial, Reuters. "Trump administration program to test expanded drone use". Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  21. "Trump to launch drone pilot program for a neighborhood near you". NBC News. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  22. "Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Transportation". The White House. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  23. "Announcement of DOT Drone Integration Pilot Program". US Department of Transportation. November 2, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  24. "Remarks by Michael Kratsios, Deputy Assistant to the President and Head of the U.S. Delegation to the G7 ICT Industry Ministerial | U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Italy". U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Italy. September 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  25. U.S. Mission Argentina (August 21, 2018). "Michael Kratsios to Lead US Delegation at G20 Digital Economy Ministerial in Argentina". Archived from the original on April 1, 2019.
  26. Singman, Brooke (May 28, 2020). "US technology chief warns China 'twisting' artificial intelligence to target critics, as America joins global pact". Fox News. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  27. O'Brien, Matt (May 28, 2020). "US joins G7 artificial intelligence group to counter China". Associated Press. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  28. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to a Key Administration Post". www.whitehouse.gov. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  29. "PN563 - Nomination of Michael J.K. Kratsios for Executive Office of the President, 116th Congress (2019-2020)". www.congress.gov. August 1, 2019.
  30. Gold, Ashley (July 13, 2020). "U.S. CTO Michael Kratsios tapped as acting Pentagon tech chief". Axios. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  31. Brufke, Juliegrace (June 13, 2020). "White House CTO chosen to serve as acting Pentagon tech chief". The Hill. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  32. Shepardson, David (June 13, 2020). "White House names Kratsios as Pentagon acting tech chief". Reuters. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
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