Arati Prabhakar | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2024 | |
12th Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy | |
In office October 3, 2022 – January 20, 2025 | |
President | Joe Biden |
Deputy | Alondra Nelson |
Preceded by | Eric Lander |
Succeeded by | Michael Kratsios (nominee) |
Science Advisor to the President | |
In office October 3, 2022 – January 20, 2025 | |
President | Joe Biden |
Preceded by | Eric Lander |
Succeeded by | Vacant |
Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency | |
In office July 30, 2012 – January 20, 2017 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Regina E. Dugan |
Succeeded by | Steven Walker |
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology | |
In office 1993–1997 | |
President | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | John Lyons |
Succeeded by | Raymond Kammer |
Personal details | |
Born | New Delhi, India | February 2, 1959
Children | 2 |
Education | Texas Tech University (BS) California Institute of Technology (MS, PhD) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Applied physics |
Institutions | National Institute of Standards and Technology U.S. Venture Partners Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency |
Thesis | Investigation of Deep Level Defects in Semiconductor Material Systems (1985) |
Doctoral advisor | Thomas McGill |
Arati Prabhakar (born February 2, 1959) is an Indian-born American engineer and politician. She was the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2022 until 2025.[1] She is a founder and the CEO of Actuate, a nonprofit organization.[2]
In June 2022, Prabhaker was nominated to be Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) by President Joe Biden.[3] She was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 22, 2022 and sworn-in the following week.[4]
She headed National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from 1993 to 1997, and was the first woman to head NIST.[5][6][7]
Prabhakar was born in New Delhi, India and her family moved to the United States when she was three.[8] At first, her family moved to Chicago and later to Lubbock, Texas.[9][10]