Regina E . Dugan Regina E . Dugan ( born March 19 , 1963 ) is an American inventor and businesswoman . She served as the 19th Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA ) . She was appointed to that position on July 20 , 2009 and was the first female DARPA director . In March 2012 , she left her position to take an executive role at Google . From 1996 to 2000 , Dugan served as a program manager at DARPA where she directed a portfolio of programs including the " Dog ’ s Nose " program , which focused on the development of an advanced , field - portable system for detecting the explosive content of land mines . In 1999 , she was named DARPA Program Manager of the Year and , in 2000 , was awarded the Bronze deFleury medal by the Army Engineer Regiment . In the award citation , Lieutenant General Ballard stated that " through strength of will , she carried disheartened experimenters past points of discouragement and led them to solve seemingly impossible problems . In the highest leadership traditions , she acted as coach , mentor , cheerleader , and taskmaster to achieve the program goals . " Other awards include the Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Exceptional Service and the Award for Outstanding Achievement . Dugan led a counterterrorism task force for the Deputy Secretary of Defense in 1999 and , from 2001 to 2003 , served as a special advisor to the Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army . She has participated in studies for the Defense Science Board , Army Science Board , National Research Council , and the Science Foundation , and sat on the Naval Research Advisory Committee and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Technology Panel . In 2005 , Dugan Ventures founded RedXDefense , LLC , a privately held company devoted to innovative solutions for combating explosive threats , where she also served as President and CEO . Before leaving DARPA , Dugan co - founded Dugan Ventures , a niche investment firm , where she was also President and CEO . Dugan obtained her doctorate degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology and her master ’ s and bachelor ’ s degrees from Virginia Tech . She is the sole inventor or co - inventor on multiple patents and patents pending and the co - author of " Engineering Thermodynamics " , 1996 . She has appeared at the Technology , Entertainment and Design ( TED ) , conference CNN , the Discovery Channel , National Public Radio , and The AAAS Science Report ; has been featured in " The New York Times " , " The Wall Street Journal " , " Prism " , " Forbes " , " Science News " , among others ; and she has delivered keynote remarks at events as diverse as All Things Digital ( D9 ) , FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit , e . g . , AIA Board of Governor ’ s meeting , Defense Manufacturing Conference , and SPIE Defense , Security , and Sensing . In 2011 , she was named a Tech Titan by Washingtonian Magazine . Innovation . In a New York Times article entitled , " New Force Behind Agency of Wonder " , John Markoff wrote that Dugan is " credited with having a knack for inspiring , and indeed insisting on , creative thinking . DARPA is often discussed as a place of innovation , which was addressed during a General Electric summit on competitiveness in Washington , D . C . Talking about DARPA ' s innovation was likened to talking about Piccaso ' s impressionism . The January 2011 edition of Prism Magazine included an article entitled , " Open to Wild Ideas . An engineer brings ' blue sky ' research back to DARPA . " Author Art Pine wrote : In computer science , to name one area , the change is noticeable . " " It ’ s clear that DARPA is back in the game and is funding a wide range of computer science projects " , Peter Harsha said and Robert M . Berdahl , president of the Association of American Universities , commented that " the treatment of basic research has already made a difference to university - based researchers " . DARPA has been described as " the Nation ' s elite Army of futuristic technogeeks " ; a place where scientists and engineers go to serve their country . Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Deputy Secretary of Defense , Ash Carter , commented on the importance of talent for the Nation and on the Director ' s efforts . Manufacturing . In the Agency ' s 2010 testimony , the challenge of manufacturing was described . " One of the biggest challenges we face as a Nation is the decline in our ability to make things . Americans today consume more goods manufactured overseas than ever before . . . and yet they are less likely to be employed in manufacturing than at any time in the last 100 years . We believe that this decline impacts the Nations ability to innovate . . . because , quite simply , " to innovate , we must make . " Importantly , this has potentially significant implications for defense , because to protect , we must produce . " The Adaptive Vehicle Make program is aimed at reducing the time to build complex defense vehicles from 10 years to 2 years . In his remarks at the Advanced Manufacturing Breakfast at Carnegie Mellon University , Friday , June 24 , 2011 , former Deputy Secretary of Defense , William J . Lynn , III , opened by saying , " The history of advanced manufacturing in the Defense Department can be told through three individuals : the famous inventor Eli Whitney , former Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine , and Regina Dugan , Director of DARPA " . Cyber security . A recent focus of the agency has been cyber security . The agency amplified its efforts to develop better defensive and offensive capabilities , recruited a world class team , and opened research up to white hat hackers to improve innovation . At a cyber colloquium held in November 2011 , three themes were articulated : ( 1 ) Malicious cyber attacks are not merely an existential threat to our bits and bytes ; they are a real threat to an increasingly large number of systems that we interact with daily from the power grid to our financial systems to our automobiles and our military systems ; ( 2 ) Modern warfare will demand both cyber and kinetic capabilities , and ( 3 ) In cyber , the nation is capability limited , both defensively and offensively . While existing efforts are necessary , these efforts represent the wisdom of the moment . Efforts are needed to increase the speed at which we develop effective cyber capabilities , as well as the number and diversity of those involved in the process of cyber innovation for the DoD . , Social media and prize - based challenge . Since 2009 , the agency has conducted a series of prize - based challenges with the intent of significantly increasing the number , diversity , and speed of people contributing to innovations for national security . The first was the DARPA Network Challenge , which was also known as the " DARPA Red Balloon Challenge . " The most recent challenge was the DARPA Shredder Challenge 2011 . Potential conflict of interest . In March 2011 , an article in " Wired " magazine stated that Dugan held stock in RedXDefense , her previous firm . In accordance with DoD policy , Dugan disclosed and recused from matters involving her former firm . A DARPA spokesperson stated that Dugan had no involvement in a 2010 contract award to RedXDefense , and that the contract was vetted by the agency ’ s top lawyer to assure there was no conflict . Subsequently the LA Times and Wired reported that her company had received around $ 1 . 8M in DARPA contracts and that Dugan held a promissory note from RedXDefense in the amount of $ 250 , 000 . Others have argued that the Wired reporters ' accusations are unjustified . In August , 2011 , the Inspector General of the Department of Defense ( DoD ) began an investigation to ensure the procedures had been followed , and to examine DARPA ' s general policies on conflict of interest as well as a specific concern that DARPA Director Regina Dugan retains financial ties to her former firm , which has won some $ 6 million in contracts with the agency , $ 4 . 3 million of which was awarded prior to her position as Director . The Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition , Technology , and Logistics , Ashton Carter , and the Department of Defense , General Counsel , Jeh Johnson , stated in a letter dated May 2011 addressed to Dugan , " based on what we know , we are satisfied that , given your disqualification from matters related to RedXDefense and the procedures you have put in place , there has been no violation of conflict of interest laws or regulations in the selection or funding of RedXDefense ' s proposals while you have been Director of DARPA " . Prior to entering the Department of Defense , potential political appointees disclose their business investments and holdings for review . Senior ethics officials in the Office of the Secretary of Defense General Counsel , Standards of Conduct Office ( OSDGC , SOCO ) determine what procedures are required to address potential conflicts . The procedures are designed to ensure that companies are neither favored nor disfavored and to permit talent to be attracted to government service .