Arati Prabhakar (born February 2, 1959) is an American engineer and public official. From October 3, 2022 to January 20, 2025, she served as the 12th director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the

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 ...

. From 1993 to 1997, Prabhakar served as the 10th Director of 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 Outline of p ...

(NIST), the first woman to hold the position. Prabhakar served as 20th Director 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 Adva ...

(United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) from 2012 to 2017. In 2019, she founded and became CEO of Actuate, a data-focused nonprofit organization.

Early life and education

Prabhakar's family immigrated to the United States from

New Delhi, India New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

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

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, from age ten. Her mother encouraged her to pursue a doctorate from a very early age. In 1979, she obtained a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

in Lubbock, Texas. She earned an

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

degree in electrical engineering in 1980 and a Ph.D. in applied physics in 1984, both from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

. 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. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on a 1984 to 1986 congressional fellowship with the Office of Technology Assessment. 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 from 1998 to 2000. She joined U.S. Venture Partners from 2001 to 2011, focusing on investment in green technology and

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

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

, replacing Regina E. Dugan. She left DARPA in January 2017. 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 institution at Stanford University designed to advance the frontiers of knowledge about human behavior and society, and contribute to the resoluti ...

(CASBS) at Stanford 2017–18. In 2019, she started Actuate, a nonprofit organization focused on issues including climate change and chronic diseases.

Biden Administration

In 2022, Prabhakar was appointed by President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

as Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and

. This made her the first woman, person of color, and immigrant, to be the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the first woman and first person of color to be the

. Prabhakar has notably advised Biden on matters regarding

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

(AI) regulation, where she has endorsed AI safeguards. She is credited for shaping digital policies and the semiconductors industrial strategy under the Biden administration.

Awards and memberships

Prabhakar is a member of the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...

and was named

IEEE Fellow , the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and ot ...

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 organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

. She has also been named a Texas Tech Distinguished Engineer and a Distinguished Alumna of

. She is a member of the governing board for the

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...

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 a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...

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

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Prabhakar is featured in the Notable Women in Computing cards. In 2024

TIME magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

listed Prabhakar among 100 most influential people in AI.

References

External links

Interview of Arati Prabhakar by David Zierler on August 11, 2020, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD USA
* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhakar, Arati 1959 births Living people 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American women engineers 21st-century American women civil servants 21st-century American engineers 21st-century American women engineers American electrical engineers American scientists of Asian descent Biden administration cabinet members California Institute of Technology alumni DARPA directors Directors of the Office of Science and Technology Policy Directors of SRI International Engineers from Texas Fellows of the IEEE Indian emigrants to the United States Members of the Cabinet of the United States of Asian descent NIST Directors People from Lubbock, Texas People from New Delhi Texas Tech University alumni Women members of the Cabinet of the United States Critics of artificial intelligence