DARPA has named Arati Prabhakar as its new director, replacing Regina Dugan who left earlier this year for a job at Google. She will start work with the agency on July 30.
Prabhakar headed the National Institute of Standards and Technology from 1993 to 1997, earned her doctorate in applied physics from Caltech in 1984, and was the first female to head the institute.
Official DARPA staff memo announcing the appointment:
Dr. Prabhakar has spent her career advancing technology in support of both national security and the private sector, from early research and development through production. Dr. Prabhakar served from 1986 to 1993 at DARPA, first as program manager and then as founding director of the Microelectronics Technology Office. In 1993, President Clinton appointed Dr. Prabhakar as the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where she led the 3,000-person organization in its work with companies across multiple industries. Dr. Prabhakar’s Department of Defense and leadership experience, when coupled with her experience with technical communities in Silicon Valley and beyond, make her the ideal candidate to continue DARPA’s impressive track record of success.
