Lydia Villa-Komaroff among 50 Most Important Hispanics in Business and Technology

BALTIMORE, Md. — Lydia Villa-Komaroff, vice president and chief operating officer for Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, has been selected as one of this country’s most powerful Hispanic executives in technology and business by “Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology” magazine.

Villa-Komaroff was selected from hundreds of candidates in government, academia and corporate America. She was chosen based on her progressive leadership responsibilities, achievements in helping to advance access to technology, demonstrated effectiveness in engaging technology within the global market economy, and her contributions to furthering technical literacy within the Hispanic community.

The list, published for the fifth year, demonstrates the new direction of America in embracing diversity and creating a more inclusive work force, said the magazine’s editors.

The 50 Most Important Hispanics in Business and Technology survey is even more significant this year, they added, with census data confirming that Hispanics are now the largest minority in the United States. But in the field of technology, Hispanics continue to be underrepresented. Today, the editors said, Hispanics and other minorities combined make up only 7 percent of the science and engineering work force.

For minorities to close this gap and have representation that more closely reflects their numbers in society, they said, more than 250,000 minority engineers and scientists will have to be produced over the next 10 years.

Full profiles of each honoree will be published in the next issue of Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology magazine.

Contributed by Rialdo Vanegas, Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology magazine