Arati Prabhakar (born February 2, 1959) is an American engineer serving as the 12th director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and

Science Advisor to the President The Science Advisor to the President is an individual charged with providing advisory opinions and analysis on science and technology matters to the President of the United States. The first Science Advisor, Vannevar Bush, chairman of the Office of ...

since October 3, 2022. She was the former head of

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the A ...

, the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a position she held from July 30, 2012 to January 20, 2017. She is a founder and the CEO of Actuate, a nonprofit organization. She headed the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...

(NIST) from 1993 to 1997, and was the first woman to head NIST.

Early life and education

Prabhakar's family immigrated to the United States from

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

when she was three; her mother was seeking an advanced degree in social work in Chicago. Prabhakar grew up in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the nort ...

, from age ten. Her mother encouraged her to pursue a PhD from a very early age. She has a 1979 bachelor of science in electrical engineering from

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

in Lubbock, Texas. She earned a Master of Science in electrical engineering in 1980 and a PhD in applied physics in 1984, both from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. She was the first woman to earn a PhD in applied physics from Caltech.

Career

After receiving her PhD, she went to Washington, D.C. on a 1984 to 1986 congressional fellowship with the

Office of Technology Assessment The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) was an office of the United States Congress that operated from 1974 to 1995. OTA's purpose was to provide congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scie ...

. Prabhakar subsequently worked at DARPA from 1986 to 1993, initially as a program manager but later as founding director of DARPA's Microelectronics Technology Office. At the age of 34, Prabhakar was appointed as head of the

(NIST), a position she held from 1993 to 1997. After NIST, she was the Chief Technology Officer and senior vice president of Raychem from 1997 to 1998. She was then the vice president and later president of

Interval Research Interval Research Corporation was founded in 1992 by Paul Allen and David Liddle. It was a Palo Alto laboratory and technology incubator focusing on consumer product applications and services with a focus on the Internet. A 1997 version of the com ...

from 1998 to 2000. She joined U.S. Venture Partners from 2001 to 2011, focusing on investment in

green technology Environmental technology (envirotech) or green technology (greentech), also known as ''clean technology'' (''cleantech''), is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic devic ...

and

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

startups. On July 30, 2012, she became the head of

, replacing Regina E. Dugan. Prabhakar was a Fellow at the

Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) is an interdisciplinary research lab at Stanford University that offers a residential postdoctoral fellowship program for scientists and scholars studying "the five core social and ...

(CASBS) at Stanford 2017–18. In 2019, she started Actuate, a nonprofit organization to open innovation for society's challenges.

Awards and memberships

Prabhakar is a member of the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

and was named

IEEE Fellow As of 2019, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has 5,082 members designated Fellow, each of whom is associated with one of the 41 societies under the IEEE. The Fellow grade of membership is the highest level of membershi ...

in 1997 for "leadership in partnering between industry and government to promote economic growth through the development of manufacturing technologies for semiconductor devices". She is a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

. She has also been named a

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

Distinguished Engineer and a Distinguished Alumna of

. She is a member of the governing board for the

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and th ...

and a member of the U.S. National Academies' Science Technology and Economic Policy Board. She was a member of the board of directors of

SRI International SRI International (SRI) is an American nonprofit scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The trustees of Stanford University established SRI in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic ...

in 2012, and was also a member of the U.S. National Academies' Science Technology and Economic Policy Board and the

College of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...

Advisory Board at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

. Prabhakar is featured in the Notable Women in Computing cards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhakar, Arati 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American women 20th-century women engineers 21st-century American women 21st-century women engineers 1959 births American electrical engineers American women engineers Asian-American members of the Cabinet of the United States Biden administration cabinet members California Institute of Technology alumni DARPA directors Directors of SRI International Engineers from Texas Fellow Members of the IEEE Indian emigrants to the United States Living people NIST Directors Office of Science and Technology Policy officials People from Lubbock, Texas People from New Delhi Texas Tech University alumni Women members of the Cabinet of the United States