College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS) Advisory Board

Mary Lou Jepson

CEO, Founder, and Board Chair, Openwater

Mary Lou Jepson is CEO, founder, and chairman of the board of Openwater, a start-up company pioneering advanced diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices as well as brain computer interfaces. Previously, Jepsen was the executive director of engineering at Facebook and head of display technologies at Oculus, where she led advanced consumer electronics, opto-electronic and display design, and manufacturing efforts. She had a similar role at Google and Google X from 2012 to 2015. She also co-founded One Laptop per Child and was the lead architect of the $100 laptop, millions of which were shipped to children in the developing world. Jepsen serves on the board of Lear Corporation and Luminar Technologies, Inc. She is the principal inventor on approximately 250 patents and has broad advisory experience. Jepsen holds a Ph.D. from Brown University in optical sciences, a master’s degree in holography from MIT, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Brown University.