Charles Chi, BEng/88

After a decade as a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, Charles Chi, BEng/88, took on a new role in November 2011 as the university’s 11th chancellor. He is the chair of Lytro, a high-tech company in Mountain View, California. It recently launched a web-enabled pocket camera that uses light-field technology, the term for an array of microlenses that capture information about a scene.

Written by James Hale, BA/77, Carleton University Magazine
Portrait by Luther Caverly

Every article about you mentions that you reluctantly gave up a career as an ’80s New Wave guitarist to attend Carleton. How serious was your music career?

It was probably more aspiration on my part to have a music career. I was very passionate about it at the time and really spent all my waking moments—and sleeping moments—thinking about music. At the end of the day, my traditional upbringing won out.

Do you still play guitar?

Hardly at all. I think the last serious time I played was maybe when I was 19 or 20.

One of the things that sets you apart from your peers in Silicon Valley is the fact that you attended a full-range university with a strong liberal arts component instead of a technical school. How has that choice played out during your career?

As a 20-year-old, you may think, why spend the time on an area that I’m not specifically in school for? Looking back 20-odd years, having that broader knowledge and being able to put things into context, not just from a technology perspective—or, on the flip side, a liberal arts perspective—makes one a better contributor to whatever they’re doing, whether it’s a professional career or a non-profit career or just being a parent.

One of the things that has changed since your time at Carleton is the growth of co-op programs. From your perspective, how do co-op placements add to the educational experience?

Well, let me talk from a student’s perspective. As you say, when I went to Carleton, we didn’t have a co-op program, and it wasn’t until the summer between my second and third years that I had a job in a technology company. Once I had that job, I came back to school super motivated and re-energized to learn more about engineering. It really motivated me, and I think my grades reflected it. So I see it as a very positive thing, but it’s not an end to itself; it’s just part of the learning process, but I think it can be a very important part. From an industry perspective, I think it helps the individuals who mentor the students. We initially pair off the students with employees who may not have had a lot of management experience in their careers but seem to have some potential for it. That’s very constructive.

As you know, you’re a decade or two younger than most of the people who take on the post of chancellor at universities. What appealed to you about the position?

What impresses me is how president Roseann Runte thinks about the university, how she cares for it, her vision for the university and how she translates that back to actionable projects and actionable steps. That really resonates with me. This is new territory for me. I’ve spent pretty much my entire career focused on building products for profit, and in this case, it will open up a new area, a new dimension for me, which I’m very excited to be involved in.

What’s your vision for how you’ll be involved with the university?

I hope to bring my brand of thinking to the position. I try to approach every new opportunity as a blank sheet of paper, think through the context of what the situation is and try to find ways I can help in meaningful ways. That can range from alumni activities through to making connections for Carleton in Silicon Valley.