Tompkins sworn in as DARPA director

Stefanie Tompkins was sworn in as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency today.

Tompkins worked at DARPA from 2007 to 2017, serving in a variety of positions including program manager and deputy director of the Strategic Technology Office, DARPA chief of staff, director of the Defense Sciences Office and acting deputy director of the agency.

Since 2018, Tompkins has worked as the vice president for research and technology transfer at the Colorado School of Mines.

Tompkins is one of President Biden's first political appointees within the Pentagon's research and engineering directorate. He has yet to name an under secretary of defense for research and engineering.