Mary Lou Jepsen
Display pioneer who co-founded One Laptop per Child and founded Openwater
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- 61 yrs
- Birthday in 152 days
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Mary Lou Jepsen is an American engineer who designed the low-cost, sunlight-readable screen of the One Laptop per Child XO laptop as its chief technology officer. She worked at Google X and Facebook’s Oculus and founded Openwater, developing low-cost medical imaging using light.
Biography
Education
Jepsen studied studio art and electrical engineering at Brown, holography at MIT Media Lab and earned a PhD in optical science at Brown.
Displays
She co-founded MicroDisplay Corporation and worked at Intel on display chips.
One Laptop per Child
As CTO of OLPC from 2005 she designed the XO laptop’s screen, readable in sunlight and using little power, and founded Pixel Qi to commercialise it.
Openwater
After Google X and Facebook/Oculus, she founded Openwater in 2016 to make MRI-like imaging using infrared light and ultrasound. She survived brain surgery, which inspired the work.
Timeline
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1965
Born in Windsor, Connecticut, United States
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2005
CTO of OLPC
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2007
XO laptop ships
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2008
Founds Pixel Qi
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2013
Joins Google X
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2015
Joins Facebook/Oculus
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2016
Founds Openwater
Did you know?
-
1
Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in 2008.
-
2
She had a brain tumour removed in 1995.
-
3
She has been an artist as well as an engineer.
Connections
Related people
Frequently asked
Who is Mary Lou Jepsen?
Mary Lou Jepsen is an American engineer who designed the low-cost, sunlight-readable screen of the One Laptop per Child XO laptop as its chief technology officer. She worked at Google X and Facebook’s Oculus and founded Openwater, developing low-cost medical imaging using light.
How old is Mary Lou Jepsen?
Mary Lou Jepsen is 61 years old, born on 6 April 1965 in Windsor, Connecticut, United States.
Where is Mary Lou Jepsen from?
Mary Lou Jepsen was born in Windsor, Connecticut, United States.
What is Mary Lou Jepsen known for?
Mary Lou Jepsen is best known for Chief technology officer of One Laptop per Child; low-power laptop screens; Openwater medical imaging.
References
- Mary Lou Jepsen — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. www.maryloujepsen.com. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Mary Lou Jepsen (Q41638) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Mary Lou Jepsen”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Mary Lou Jepsen.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/mary-lou-jepsen
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