Lisa Porter
Lisa J. Porter is an American scientist and founding Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity. Prior to this position, she was the Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research at NASA and a senior scientist in the Advanced Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Lisa Porter | |
|---|---|
1st director of IARPA | |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | MIT Stanford University |
| Awards | Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service (2005) NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal (2008) National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal (2012) Presidential Meritorious Rank Award (2013) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | DARPA NASA IARPA Teledyne Technologies In-Q-Tel |
| Thesis | Wave heating of the solar corona (1994) |
| Doctoral advisor | Peter A. Sturrock |
In March 2012, Porter resigned from IARPA. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper remarked in Wired that her hallmark as a leader was bringing together the nation's top scientific thinkers to solve difficult problem. She joined Teledyne Technologies as senior vice president of the subsidiary Teledyne Scientific & Imaging. She later joined In-Q-Tel as executive vice president and director of In-Q-Tel Labs.
Porter is the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, a newly created position. After her confirmation by the United States Senate, she again will be reporting to Under Secretary of Defense Michael Griffin, her former supervisor at NASA. In her role as DUSD(R&E), Porter helped USD(R&E) Griffin established technology modernization priorities for the DoD.
In 2009, as the Director of IARPA, Porter cancelled the US Quantum Communications Satellite program nine months before launch. On June 24, 2020, Lisa Porter tendered her resignation effective July 10, 2020 to pursue opportunities in the private sector.