Dr. Peter Highnam has been named director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Project Agency.
Hingnam is the second director in IARPA history and has been serving as the agency’s acting director since May 2012.
“Peter will maintain the high bar for technical excellence and relevance to mission that [former director] Lisa [Porter] established, and will continue to work closely with partners throughout the national security community, said Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
IARPA is a center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and is the intelligence communities’ equivalent of the Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency that develops advanced technologies for the U.S. aimed at providing overwhelming advantages over future adversaries.
Bio:
Dr. Highnam became the Acting Director of IARPA on 14 May 2012. He joined IARPA in February 2009 as the Office Director for Incisive Analysis. Prior to IARPA, Dr. Highnam was a Senior Advisor in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and then in the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). From 1999 to 2003 Dr. Highnam was a DARPA Program Manager with programs in electronic warfare and airborne communications. Before joining DARPA he worked in applied research in industry. Dr. Highnam has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University.
