Arati Prabhakar

Arati Prabhakar
Official portrait, 2024
12th Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
Assumed office
October 3, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byAlondra Nelson (acting)
22nd Science Advisor to the President
Assumed office
October 3, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byFrancis Collins (acting)
20th Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
In office
July 30, 2012 – January 20, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byRegina E. Dugan
Succeeded bySteven Walker
3rd Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
In office
1993–1997
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byJohn Lyons
Succeeded byRaymond Kammer
Personal details
Born (1959-02-02) February 2, 1959 (age 65)
New Delhi, India
CitizenshipIndia (1959–67)
United States (1967–present)
Political partyDemocratic
Children2
EducationTexas Tech University (BS)
California Institute of Technology (MS, PhD)
Scientific career
FieldsApplied physics
InstitutionsNational Institute of Standards and Technology
U.S. Venture Partners
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
ThesisInvestigation of Deep Level Defects in Semiconductor Material Systems (1985)
Doctoral advisorThomas McGill

Arati Prabhakar (born February 2, 1959) is an American engineer and public official. Since October 3, 2022, she has served as the 12th director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Science Advisor to the President.[1][2][3]

From 1993 to 1997, Prabhakar served as Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the first woman to hold the position.[4][5][6] Prabhakar served as Director of DARPA (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.[7]

  1. ^ "White House unveils 'AI bill of rights' as 'call to action' to rein in tool". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  2. ^ "Senate Confirms Prabhakar to Lead White House Science Office". bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  3. ^ "AAMC Statement on the Nomination of Arati Prabhakar, PhD, to be White House Science Advisor and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy". AAMC.
  4. ^ Holusha, John (1993-08-01). "Profile/Arati Prabhakar; She's Not Just Setting Standards". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
  5. ^ Gibbs, W. W. (1995) Profile: Arati Prabhakar – Engineering the Future, Scientific American 272(4), 44–48.
  6. ^ "Directors of the National Bureau of Standards (1901–1988) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (1988–present)". NIST. 16 March 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  7. ^ "President Biden to Nominate Dr. Arati Prabhakar to Lead Office of Science and Technology Policy". The White House. 2022-06-21. Retrieved 2023-10-30. In 2019, she founded Actuate, a non-profit organization bringing new actors to the table to develop solutions to the challenges of climate, health, trustworthy data and information technology, and opening access to opportunity for every person.