Douglas Merrill

Former Chief Information Officer of Google was both deaf and dyslexic as a child.

Growing up, Merrill struggled with dyslexia and hearing problems. He lost his hearing when he was three years old as a result of an auditory nerve infection. Fortunately, it was cured after three years of treatment and he regained his hearing. Merrill also struggled with dyslexia. His dyslexia made it difficult for him to read as well as made him slower at math. During the summers, his parents would spend hours re-teaching him how to read and solve math problems. Additionally, his teachers had to consistently work with him to provide the extra support he needed.

While his struggles with reading and hearing made him have to work harder to achieve his goals, they did not hold him back. He gained a Ph.D. in cognitive science from Princeton and served as the CIO of Google for 6 years. He now runs his own startup company, Zest Finance, which is an online lending service that works to help millions of Americans get emergency loans.