Jeannette (Jamie) Garcia

Dr. Jeannette M. Garcia is the Technical Program Director, Strategic Geographies & Research Outreach for IBM Quantum. Garcia's research interests have previously focused on the application of quantum computers to chemistry & materials simulations. Prior to that, she focused on the synthesis & characterization of new recyclable polymers and polymers & materials with unique properties.

Garcia received her BS from Seattle University, and PhD in Chemistry at Boston College under the guidance of Prof. Amir H. Hoveyda, where she studied catalyst design & synthesis. When she first joined IBM Research in 2012 as a postdoctoral researcher, she worked with Dr. Jim Hedrick on high performance and recyclable materials. She became a Research Staff Member in 2013 and from 2017-2018, served as the Technical Advisor to Dr. Sophie Vandebroek, COO of IBM Research, at the TJ Watson Lab in Yorktown Heights, NY. In 2018, she became the manager and Global Lead for Quantum Applications in Quantum Chemistry, and Science and subsequently was the Senior Research Manager for Quantum Applications and Software team at IBM Research.

Garcia is one of MIT Tech Review’s 2015 35 Innovators Under 35, one of Business Insider’s 17 IBM Research Rock Stars, and the recipient of the Individual World Technology Award in Materials. In 2016, Garcia was named as one of Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers. In 2017, she was the first recipient of the ACS POLY Division's Young Industrial Polymer Chemist Award and also selected as a YWCA Emerging Leader. In 2019, she was selected for the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 40 under 40 list. She was selected for the 2022 Racheff Lecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has authored over 40 papers, has over 115 patents and is an IBM Master Inventor. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio (NPR), and Scientific American.