Major: Computer Science [Scientific Emphasis] (BS)
Kevin Scott ’94 describes himself as an “engineering exec, author, maker of things, and all around geek.” Business Insider magazine, however, has described him as “the engineer who saved LinkedIn.”
Scott was senior vice president of engineering for LinkedIn in 2013 when Business Insider recognized him for the leadership he showed while the company rebuilt its website architecture from the ground up.
He was at LinkedIn for six years, ultimately becoming the company’s senior vice president for engineering and operations.
Scott launched into the rapidly expanding tech world after getting a computer science degree from Lynchburg, where he was a Westover Honors College Fellow. He’s now chief technology officer for Microsoft, which acquired LinkedIn in 2016. Prior to joining LinkedIn, he oversaw mobile ad engineering at Google, including the integration of Google’s $750-million acquisition of AdMob in 2009.
He is the recipient of a Google Founder’s Award and an Intel PhD Fellowship. He’s a co-founder of The Scott Foundation, a family foundation focused on hunger, early childhood education, and promoting women and girls in technology, as well as the founder of Behind the Tech, a nonprofit that shares photos and stories of people who develop modern technology.
He also serves as a board member or advisor to several Silicon Valley startups and professional groups. His academic research on dynamic binary rewriting has been cited hundreds of times in other scholarly work.
Scott, who grew up in rural Virginia, co-authored “Reprogramming the American Dream: From Rural American to Silicon Valley — Making AI Serve Us All,” published in 2020.
Since graduating from Lynchburg, Scott has returned to campus to speak with students and other members of the University community. He also accepted a Distinguished Alumni Award from Lynchburg’s Alumni Association in 2017.
