November 1, 2024
Colloquium Topic: [DRAFT] Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Future of War
TBD
Colloquium Speaker: Christopher Kirchhoff
Christopher Kirchhoff is an expert in emerging technology who founded the Pentagon’s Silicon Valley office and has led teams for President Obama, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and CEO of Google. He is the author of Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley are Transforming the Future of War.
Most recently, Dr. Kirchhoff worked special projects at Anthropic. Earlier, he helped grow the philanthropy of Google CEO Eric Schmidt from 10 to 100 people and $1 billion in programs. Previously he led the 67-person Defense Innovation Unit X, which piloted flying cars and microsatellites in military missions and created a new acquisition pathway for start-ups now responsible for $70 billion dollars of technology acquisition by the Department of Defense.
During the Obama Administration, Kirchhoff was Director for Strategic Planning at the National Security Council, the senior civilian aide to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and an advisor to Presidential Counselor John Podesta. He led the 8-member Chairman’s Initiatives Team on the Joint Staff and the 15-person NSC Strategic Planning Small Group, working on issues ranging from how technology will change the future to Operation United Assistance, which deployed 3,000 U.S. service members to end the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Kirchhoff penned four landmark reports: the Obama Administration’s Lessons Learned Report on Ebola, White House Big Data Report, Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience, coined “the Iraq Pentagon Papers” by the New York Times, and the Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Investigation report.
An expert in strategic forecasting, technological systems, and the social impacts of technology, Kirchhoff graduated in History and Science from Harvard College and holds a doctorate in politics from Cambridge University, where he was a Gates Scholar. He has been awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Service and the Civilian Service Medal for hazardous duty in Iraq.
An avid trail runner, Ironman triathlete, and dog dad, from 2011-2014 he was the highest-ranking openly gay advisor in the U.S. Department of Defense. He and his husband John live in San Francisco.