Cheryl Martin

Cheryl Martin is an American chemist who serves as the head of the Centre for Global Industries at the World Economic Forum (WEF). She was previously the deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, an initiative of the United States Department of Energy, from 2012 to 2014. Martin was also the deputy director for Commercialization at the agency where she led ARPA-E's Technology-to-Market program, which helps breakthrough energy technologies succeed in the marketplace.

Biography Martin was raised in Massachusetts and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in chemistry in 1984. She then earned her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She worked for twenty years with the Rohm and Haas Company, initially as a senior scientist and eventually serving as corporate vice president in 2007. She then joined Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers as an Executive-in-Residence during which time she was also the Acting CEO for Renmatix, a company that converts biomass into cellulosic sugars.

Martin joined the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Initiative ARPA-E as deputy director for Commercialization under then-director Arun Majumdar. After Majumdar resigned from the DOE, Martin was named acting-director in his place.