Arati Prabhakar: the crusader ahead of her times

Arati Prabhakar is an American engineer and the former head of the United States Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Let’s wish and learn about her on this birthday.

Arati Prabhakar was born on 2 February 1959 in New Delhi. Her family moved to the US when she was three years old. From age ten, Arati Prabhakar grew up in Lubbock, Texas. From a very young age, her mother encouraged her to pursue a PhD. She took her bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University. She earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology.  She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in applied physics from Caltech.

After that, Arati Prabhakar worked at DARPA from 1986 to 1993. She worked initially as a program manager but later as founding director of DARPA’s Microelectronics Technology Office. At the age of 34, Arati Prabhakar was appointed the head of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). She held this position from 1993 to 1997.

On July 30, 2012, she became the head of the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  Once again wishing her a happy birthday!