News 

'As Larry Page and I have said, we hope that the contributions of Google.org may someday exceed those of Google itself in terms of overall world impact by ambitiously applying innovation and significant resources to the largest of the world's problems,' said Google co-founder Sergey Brin. 'Today we are excited to announce that we have found a leader that embodies that goal in spirit and in accomplishments - Larry Brilliant.'

Brilliant's CV includes being a founder and director of The Seva Foundation, which is a proponent of 'compassionate capitalism' and believes 'that western technology and skills must be used in ways that are sustainable

ADVERTISEMENT

and that can be shared with those who do not have access to capital and resources'. He is also a Policy Advisory Council Member at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

'I'm deeply honored to have been selected to direct Google.org,' said Dr. Brilliant. 'I have great admiration for Google's technical contributions to society and believe that it can make an equally great impression through philanthropy.'

Awards garnered by Brilliant include: a 2006 TED (technology entertainment design) Prize, the 'Community Peacemaker Award' from Wayne State University, the 'International Health Hero Award' from the University of California, Berkeley, the World Health Organisation's Order of the Bifurcated Needle, and the Government of India's Health Minister's Award.

Google set up its charitable arm in October 2005. Putting their money where their blogs are, Brin and Page said at the time they were committing one per cent of Google's stock and profits - almost $1bn (£573m) - to Google.org.

According to the search giant, Google.org focuses on several areas including global poverty, health, energy and the environment and has made investments and grants worth $7 million to date.