Mark Little, PhD

Currently an Operating Partner at Material Impact, Mark Little is the retired Chief Technology Officer at General Electric.

In his 37 year career at GE, Mark served in diverse senior leadership roles in operations, research, strategic planning, joint venture development, and product management. From 2005, as GE’s CTO and SVP/Director of GE Global Research, Mark reported to the CEO and developed fundamental technologies to help GE compete and grow in each of its businesses: energy, oil & gas, aviation, healthcare, transportation, consumer products, and financial services. 

A company officer for 21 years, his team led transformative initiatives in software, advanced manufacturing, and cybersecurity. Mark’s research team of more than 3,600 people represented every major scientific and engineering discipline, working at nine research facilities in the USA, India, China, Germany, Brazil, and Israel. Earlier in his career, as a business leader, he turned around a global business unit from $200MM annual loss to $4B annual profit — a unique achievement within GE. In addition, Mark was responsible for the acquisition and integration of bankrupt energy business, positioning it to become a $6B GE enterprise today. 

Charitable work is central to Mark’s purpose. He and his wife founded and operate the Little Family Foundation, which provides a strong base for charitable pursuits. They are both active in the foundation which supports a wide variety of local community activities as well as international and veteran’s organizations. Mark also serves as a Trustee of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

He is an avid reader, a self-taught rock, blues, and jazz guitarist, a golfer, and is self-described as “a crazy Boston sports fan.”