Who's Who: Chris Smith

President of Cochlear Americas

Chris Smith (left) pictured here at Cochlear Celebration 2006 with David Williams, Sr VP, GM Bone Anchored Solutions, Cochlear Americas

Chris Smith came to Cochlear in August of 2004 bringing with him 20 plus years experience in the Medical Device Industry. He graduated from Texas A&M and remains just a little bit of an Aggies fan – “I bleed maroon.” When asked what made him decide to come to Cochlear, he recalled meeting his first CI recipient.

“I was in Las Vegas for a convention shortly after interviewing for the position at Cochlear. At the time I was still weighing my options and trying to decide if Cochlear would be the right fit for me. Out of the blue, I saw a guy wearing a cochlear implant, so I asked him to tell me a little about it. He told me that his activation was the number 1 most significant day of his life. That statement had an instant effect on me and I knew Cochlear was where I was meant to work.”

Two years later Chris still can’t get over the amount of passion there is within the cochlear implant industry. In no other medical device job has he ever seen that type of emotional connection among consumers, Cochlear employees, audiologist and surgeons.

“It is amazing to be able to work for a company and see every day the impact of what you do.”

That in itself is not what drives Chris. What drives him is the fact that there is so little awareness about what a cochlear implant is. Right now only 1 in 10 people who could benefit from a cochlear implant actually receive one. Most of those people don’t even know what a cochlear implant is. His goal for Cochlear is to build general awareness about cochlear implants so that everyone knows what they are and what they can do.

“There are so many people out there struggling to communicate and live their daily lives because of hearing loss. Many of them don’t know that there is this technology out there that can help them hear again. I want to help those people hear and this job allows me to do just that!”

When Chris is not working to help more people hear he loves to spend time with his wife and two sons. Sports are still a big part of his life. He watches Texas A&M every chance he gets and  also likes to play a game of pick up basketball or two.