DARPA names new director

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has a new director, Danger Room reports. Dr. Arati Prabhakar is set to start her new job on July 30.

Prabhakar has worked for DARPA in the past; from 1986 to 1993 she served first as a program manager and then as founding director of the Microelectronics Technology Office, according to an undated Energy Department bio.

Until last year, Prabhakar worked in the private sector, funding green technology initiatives and start-ups as part of U.S. Venture Partners. She also worked for several years at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, appointed as director in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. She also serves on the board of directors at SRI International.

Prabhakar succeeds Regina Dugan, who left in March for an executive position at Google. Kaigham Gabriel, DARPA deputy director since 2009, has been serving as acting director in the interim.

A native of India who moved to the U.S. at age 3, Prabhakar received her B.S. in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University, and an M.S. in electrical engineering and Ph.D. in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology.