Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Who is Dr Aarti Prabhakar, nominated Joe Biden's top science advisor?

Biden described Dr Prabhakar as a brilliant and highly-respected engineer and applied physicist.

Who is Dr Aarti Prabhakar, nominated Joe Biden's top science advisor?

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday nominated Indian American Dr Aarti Prabhakar as the next White House science adviser as his administration aims to leverage science, technology, and innovation.

If confirmed by the Senate, Dr Prabhakar will be Biden's Chief Advisor for Science and Technology, a co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and a member of the President's Cabinet.

"Today, President Biden announced his intent to nominate Dr. Arati Prabhakar to serve as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and once confirmed to this position, also as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. In this capacity, Dr. Prabhakar will be the President's Chief Advisor for Science and Technology, a co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and a member of the President's Cabinet," the White House said in a statement.

Biden described Dr Prabhakar as a brilliant and highly-respected engineer and applied physicist.

He said that Indian Americans will lead the Office of Science and Technology Policy to leverage science, technology, and innovation to expand our possibilities, solve our toughest challenges, and make the impossible possible," said President Biden.

"I share Dr Prabhakar's belief that America has the most powerful innovation machine the world has ever seen. As the Senate considers her nomination, I am grateful that Dr. Alondra Nelson will continue to lead OSTP and Dr Francis Collins will continue to serve as my acting Science Advisor," he added.

Prabhakar has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate before, to lead the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and was the first woman to hold that role.

She later served as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the birthplace of breakthrough technologies like stealth aircraft and the Internet.

"If confirmed to lead OSTP, Prabhakar would become the third Asian American, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander to serve in President Biden's Cabinet, joining Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Today's nomination is historic, with Prabhakar being the first woman, immigrant, or person of color nominated to serve as Senate-confirmed director of OSTP," the White House said.

Dr Arati Prabhakar has led two different federal R&D agencies and worked with startups, large companies, universities, government labs, and nonprofits across a wide variety of sectors to create powerful new solutions for critical challenges. She is an engineer and applied physicist with extensive management and leadership credentials.

Prabhakar's family immigrated from India to the United States when she was three years old - first to Chicago and then settling when she was age 10 in Lubbock, Texas, where she went on to get her electrical engineering degree from Texas Tech University.

She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology, where she also earned an M.S. in electrical engineering. She started her career in the legislative branch as a Congressional Fellow at the Office of Technology Assessment.

She is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

(ANI)

More For You

Prithvi

The Prithvi-II missile has a range of around 350 kms and can carry a payload of up to 500 kgs.

DRDO and Doordarshan

India test-fires nuclear-capable missiles; Akash Prime tested in Ladakh

INDIA on Thursday successfully test-fired nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missiles Prithvi-II and Agni-I from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur, off the Odisha coast.

The launches were carried out by the Strategic Forces Command and demonstrated India's strategic deterrence capability, the defence ministry said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marco Rubio

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said TRF is a 'front and proxy' of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a UN-designated terrorist group based in Pakistan. (Photo: Getty Images)

US designates Kashmir attack group TRF as terrorist outfit

THE UNITED STATES on Thursday designated The Resistance Front (TRF), the group blamed for the April attack in Kashmir, as a terrorist organisation. The attack had triggered the worst conflict between India and Pakistan in decades.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said TRF is a "front and proxy" of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a UN-designated terrorist group based in Pakistan.

Keep ReadingShow less
Diane Abbott

Diane Abbott has been suspended again by Labour after repeating comments about different forms of racism in a radio interview.

Getty Images

Labour suspends Diane Abbott again over race comments

THE LABOUR PARTY has suspended Diane Abbott, the UK’s longest-serving female MP, after she repeated remarks on racism that had previously led to her suspension.

Abbott, a prominent figure in British left-wing politics and the first Black woman elected to parliament, was initially suspended by Labour in 2023 after she said the prejudice faced by Jewish people was similar to, but not the same as, racism.

Keep ReadingShow less
sunil-bharti-mittal

This is Mittal’s ninth honorary doctorate and his third from a UK institution. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

University of Bath awards honorary doctorate to Sunil Mittal

SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL, founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, has been awarded an honorary doctorate in business administration by the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, the company said on Thursday.

The University of Bath is ranked among the UK’s top ten universities and is placed within the top 10 per cent globally, the statement added.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chemmani Sri Lanka

The gravesite is one of dozens unearthed across the country. (Photo: X)

x

Child’s remains found in Sri Lanka’s Chemmani mass grave

THE skeletal remains of a girl aged between four and five have been identified among 65 sets of human remains exhumed from a mass grave in Sri Lanka’s Jaffna district. The site first came into focus during the LTTE conflict in the mid-1990s.

“The findings of the excavation at the Chemmani mass grave were reported to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court on on Tuesday (15) by Raj Somadeva, a forensic archaeologist overseeing the exhumation,” Jeganathan Tathparan, a lawyer, said on Thursday (17).

Keep ReadingShow less