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Arati Prabhakar Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 28, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth2 February 1959

Age63 Years (as of 2022)

BirthplaceNew Delhi, India

ProfessionGovernment Official (US)

NationalityAmerican

Marital statusMarried

FamilyTwo children; parents Jagdish Chandra Prabhakar and Raj (Madan) Prabhakar

Arati Prabhakar Biography

Arati Prabhakar is an American government official, engineer and science advisor who has led major U.S. science and technology organizations, including NIB

Early life and background
Arati Prabhakar was born on February 2, 1959, in New Delhi, India. Her family moved to the United States when she was a child; she and her mother relocated when she was three. The family later settled in Lubbock, Texas, where she grew up. Prabhakar has described her mother as a strong influence who encouraged her academic ambitions from an early age.

Prabhakar completed her undergraduate studies in electrical engineering at Texas Tech University. She went on to earn a Master of Science and a PhD in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology, becoming the first woman to receive a Caltech PhD in that field in 1984.

Career
Prabhakar’s professional life bridges government, industry and nonprofit work, with a long focus on advanced technology policy and research management. Early in her career she served as a Congressional Fellow and analyst at the Office of Technology Assessment in Washington, D.C., and was a recipient of a Bell Laboratories graduate fellowship for women.

From 1986 to 1993 she worked at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Virginia, holding roles including program manager and director within DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office. In 1993 she was appointed director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and led that agency until 1997, becoming the first woman to head NIST.

After leaving government service in the late 1990s, Prabhakar moved into industry and venture investing. She was chief technology officer and senior vice president at Raychem from 1997 to 1998 and then joined Interval Research in Palo Alto, serving as vice president and later president through 2000. In 2001 she became a partner at U.S. Venture Partners in Menlo Park, where she oversaw investment activity in green and information technology startups until 2011.

Prabhakar returned to DARPA as director in July 2012 and led the agency until January 2017. Following her DARPA tenure, she was a fellow at Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences from September 2017 through June 2018.

In 2018 she founded Actuate Innovation, a nonprofit organization focused on designing new models of innovation to address societal challenges, and has served as its chief executive officer.

In October 2022 Prabhakar was appointed director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and designated as the science advisor to President Joe Biden. Her appointment marked several firsts for the OSTP leadership: she is the first woman, the first immigrant and the first person of color to serve as its director.

Public profile
Prabhakar is affiliated with several professional and advisory bodies, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. She has served on the governing board for the Pew Research Center, on the Science, Technology and Economic Policy board of the U.S. National Academies, and on the College of Engineering Advisory Board at the University of California, Berkeley. She was named a Texas Tech Distinguished Engineer and is a distinguished alumna of the California Institute of Technology.

Throughout her career she has been recognized for fostering partnerships between government and industry to advance manufacturing and semiconductor technologies. She has delivered TED talks and is frequently called on to speak about innovation and advanced research programs. Former DARPA director Craig Fields has praised her combination of technical knowledge, entrepreneurial instincts and ability to get things done within government.

Personal life
Prabhakar is an American national and is married; she and her spouse have two children. Her parents are Jagdish Chandra Prabhakar and Raj (Madan) Prabhakar. Her father worked at Texas Instruments and later joined the faculty at Texas Tech.

Latest updates
In June 2022 Prabhakar said she would participate in aspects of President Biden’s cancer moonshot initiative. On October 3, 2022, she officially became director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the president’s science advisor.
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Recent Work

Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Appointed director of OSTP and science advisor to the president on October 3, 2022; first woman, first immigrant and first person of color to hold the post.

2022
Founder and CEO, Actuate Innovation

Established a nonprofit in 2018 focused on new models of innovation to address societal challenges.

2018
Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

Led DARPA from July 2012 until January 2017.

2012–2017
Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Served as NIST director from 1993 to 1997, the first woman to hold the role.

1993–1997
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Career Highlights

  1. First woman to earn a PhD in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology (1984).
  2. Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (1993–1997).
  3. Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (2012–2017).
  4. Founder and CEO of Actuate Innovation (2018–present).
  5. Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and science advisor to the president (appointed October 3, 2022).
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Arati Prabhakar born?

2 February 1959

What is Arati Prabhakar known for?

Government Official (US)

What is Arati Prabhakar’s marital status?

Married