Christopher White has served as Corporate Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Research & Development at NEC Corporation since March 2026, leading NEC’s worldwide R&D strategy across its global network of laboratories in Japan, the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, China, and Israel. He has also served as President of NEC Laboratories America, Inc. since March 2020, where he leads a team of world-class researchers focused on topics ranging from sensing and networking to machine learning-based understanding.

Chris has extensive expertise in scientific computing, hierarchical simulation techniques, quantum chemistry, optical networks, optical devices, and acoustic scattering. His research interests include developing computational models and methods for simulating and controlling interesting physical and digital systems. This has included work ranging from linear-scaling quantum chemistry simulations to the design of new optical devices, to the global control of transparent optical mesh networks, and to understanding and facilitating the propagation of ideas in organizations. In addition to managing a team of world-class researchers, his current work focuses on creating assisted-thinking tools that leverage structural similarity in data to augment human intelligence.

Prior to his role at NEC Laboratories America, Inc., he spent 22 years working at Nokia Bell Labs, where he led the Algorithms, Analytics, Augmented Intelligence and Devices (AAAID) research lab.

Chris has a Ph.D. in Theoretical Quantum Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University, with a concentration in Computer Science.