Larry Brilliant, executive director of Google.org, late on Monday announced he is stepping down after three years as head of the philanthropic arm of the Internet search giant. Brilliant announced in a post on the Google blog that he was handing over his leadership of Google.org to Megan Smith, vice president of new business development at the Mountain View, California-based company. But Brilliant, a leading epidemiologist, said he would continue to play a role as Google's “chief philanthropy evangelist.” “Three years after Google.org was founded, we've been reviewing our progress, and how best to take things forward,” Brilliant said. “It's clear that I am most effective in helping to identify ‘big ideas' and potential partners, as well as raising awareness about society's biggest challenges,” he said. “I think this is the highest contribution that I can make both to Google.org and to fighting the urgent threats of our day: from climate change to emerging infectious diseases, to issues of poverty and health care,” Brilliant said. He said Google remained committed to devoting “one percent of Google's equity and profits to philanthropy” but indicated the company would put a greater focus on nonprofit efforts tied to Google projects. “During our review it became clear that while we have been able to support some remarkable non-profit organizations over the past three years, our greatest impact has come when we've attacked problems in ways that make the most of Google's strengths in technology and information,” Brilliant said. He cited such projects as PowerMeter, software that tells residents the energy efficiency of devices in their homes, and Flu Trends, a program which tracks patterns in search queries to determine the spread of the disease. “By aligning Google.org more closely with Google as a whole, Megan will ensure that we're better able to build innovative, scalable technology and information solutions,” Brilliant said. He added that “as a first step, Google has decided to put even more engineers and technical talent to work on these issues and problems.” As of September 2008, Google.org has committed over 100 million dollars in grants and investments, according to the Google.org website.
