Afua Bruce is an American engineer, data executive, professor, and former U.S. government official who has held appointments at the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and on 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 ...

’s transition agency review team at the Department of Justice. In 2021, a statue was erected in Bruce's honor in Dallas, Texas by the American Association for Advancement of Science. Bruce is a public interest technologist.

Education

Bruce received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

and an MBA from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. At Purdue, Bruce was one of two recipients of the BP Amoco merit-based scholarship.

Career

Bruce began her career as a software engineer at

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

. She then joined the FBI where she served in various strategy and program management roles. In 2015, she was appointed to the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House as the Executive Director of the National Science and Technology Council where she led over 100 different Federal inter-agency working groups across topics that included: environment, and sustainability, homeland and national security, science, technology, and STEM education. Bruce then became the first Director of Engineering and a Fellow in the newly formed Public Interest Technology program at New America. In this program, Bruce oversaw the Public Interest Technology University Network, and worked with technologists working with state and local government, and NGOs, to develop technology and policy. In February 2020, it was announced that Bruce would be the new Chief Program Officer at DataKind. Bruce also holds a faculty position at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

. Bruce was among 29 people named to Joseph R. Biden, Jr.'s agency review team for the Department of Justice in November 2020. In 2020, Bruce gave a Ted Talk on Tech Equity and Serving the Community. Bruce is the co-author of the 2022 book, ''The Tech That Comes Next'', a non-fiction analysis of how technology can play a role in an equitable world.

Honors

Bruce was named an American Association for Advancement of Science If/Then Ambassador in recognition of her work to interest girls in STEM careers and featured in the If/Then Statue Exhibit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Afua Living people Office of Science and Technology Policy officials Purdue University alumni University of Michigan alumni Year of birth missing (living people)