"That's a simple question. I think the most important thing a leader can do is to identify and convince top notch people to join her or his team. And to do that the leader will have to create a very diverse and inclusive environment where people can truly be themselves on the job, where they can bring not only their intellect, but also their heart. And then once you have these top notch people then encourage them to reach out to their team members, the customers, the partners as long as the human global innovation partners and build a strong human network where they can truly create disruptive products and solutions. The bottom line is it's really all about people." -- Sophie Vandebroek
What is the single most important task for a leader?
Dr. Sophie Vandebroek is chief technology officer and president of the Xerox Innovation Group for Xerox Corporation. She was named to this position January 2006, and became a corporate vice president in February 2006.
Vandebroek is responsible for overseeing Xerox's worldwide research centers and for maximizing the company's multimillion-dollar investment in research and technology.
Most recently, she was chief engineer of Xerox Corporation and vice president of the Xerox Engineering Center. As chief engineer, a position she assumed in 2002, Vandebroek was responsible for coordinating Xerox's engineering efficiency and effectiveness, a period during which Xerox refreshed more than 95 percent of its office product line and launched its flagship iGen3™ Digital Production Press. Prior to that, she served as chief technology officer at Carrier Corp. From 1991 until 2000, Vandebroek held a number of increasingly responsible roles at Xerox including technical advisor to Xerox's chief operating officer and director of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada.
Vandebroek is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers and served as an elected member on the IEEE Administrative Committee. She is also a Fulbright Fellow and a Fellow of the Belgian-American Educational Foundation. She holds 12 US patents.
Vandebroek has received awards from Xerox, IBM, HP, Monsanto, the Belgium National Science Foundation, Semiconductor Research Corporation, IEEE, and Cornell University. Vandebroek served as a judge for MIT's Technology Review Young Innovators awards, the Wall Street Journal Innovation awards and the FIRST Lego and Robotics competition regional awards. She currently serves on several university and professional advisory boards.
Vandebroek was born in Leuven, Belgium. She earned a master's degree in electro-mechanical engineering from Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Cornell University.
Sophie enjoys traveling, kayaking and skiing with her three teenage children.
