Alumni Spotlight Series: Arati Prabhakar, PhD

For the second installment of the Alumni Spotlight Series, we’re featuring the phenomenal journey of White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director, Arati Prabhakar. Arati shares how her adventure into science and technology policy immediately after her PhD and how this choice set her on a wonderful trajectory. This installment is full of relatable experiences and invaluable life and career advice. We hope this interview inspires all who read it, but especially current and aspiring fellows by presenting the various possibilities that await those who embark on the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships.

How did your fellowship placement within a government agency shape your understanding of science and technology policy?

Arati: “My fellowship was ’84-’85 at the Office of Technology Assessment, a congressional agency that no longer exists. They ran their own fellowship program, but the fellows participated in the AAAS program. So that particular vantage point for my fellowship was in a congressional agency whose job was to help members and congressional committees understand what was happening with technology and what the policy and societal implications were.

My focus was on semiconductors and how intellectual property was changing. In 1984 people used to talk about how there would be a jukebox in the sky, and you could just get books and music. It seemed like a fantasy and of course that's how we live today. My fellowship was a long time ago, but I had just finished my PhD in applied physics and had never done anything remotely like that, so it gave me a completely different vantage point to think about science and technology. It was very different from everything I had done before.”

Sidebar: Arati's Take on Career Timing

In this sidebar, we focus on my interest in Arati’s take on her career’s timing. Timing is often out of one’s control, but when preparation and timing align, it is encouragingly amazing.

Liz: "I'm also curious to know, you said that the fellowship was something that you did immediately after your PhD. Do you feel like that was the best timing for you?”

Arati: “Everyone's got a different story of what, when, why, how, and at what time in their careers they chose to mix things up. For me, I was trying to open a door to see a different vista. I had been on this track to get a PhD and go be a tenure track faculty member. By the time I finished doing my PhD research, I was no longer excited about that.

So, I came on a fellowship simply to do something very different. And the fellowship and the subsequent doors it opened was the big thing that changed my trajectory. When you leave the track that you're quote unquote supposed to be on, doors open and things happen that you couldn't have even known to hope for.

It was in doing the fellowship that I got an opportunity to go to DARPA and be a program manager, which was the next thing I did after my fellowship. That was just life-changing for me. It did what I hoped, which was to open a completely different set of options.”

In what ways did your fellowship experience contribute to your career trajectory after completing the program?

Arati: “Remember now for me this was one year, 40 years ago. The single biggest thing that my fellowship did for me was opening a very different set of opportunities. It just sent me off on a completely different trajectory.”

In reflecting, what advice would you give to yourself at the beginning of your fellowship, or what advice would you offer to new fellows starting their journey?

Arati: “I think it's the same advice I would give anyone, especially someone early in their career, which is that your entire professional life is a journey to find the places where you can do something that's really meaningful to you and where you can make your contribution to the world. That's a combination of understanding what matters to you and what you're good at.

Often, those things are related, which is nice, but it’s also nice to find an organization at a time, place, and with people to work with where you can really do big things. I have found that when all the stars align and I've been in places where it's functional, there's a budget, I've got great bosses, and great colleagues I can do the things that really matter to me.

Those things for me are building new capabilities, doing the work that serves our country, and finding really big levers on how the future unfolds. I've had this opportunity to be in such a place many times now and there's just a sense of feeling unstoppable. It's so exciting, you just run to work every single morning. I think that's what we all live for professionally. What comes with that is recognizing that those conditions don't last forever.

So, enjoy every minute of it and get all the work done that you can knowing that you're gonna move on to the next thing. And the next thing may not be that perfect fit, but wherever you are, you're gonna learn things that will help you for when the stars next align and where you can really move mountains.”

Sidebar: Arati on Navigating Difficult Workplaces

In this sidebar, I was curious on Arati’s perspective on navigating less-than-ideal working situations. I was reminded of quite a few articles^1-2 and publications^3-4 that investigated the impact this has on the workplace dynamic and the people within those spaces.

Liz: "Have you ever experienced situations where those stars didn't align and how did you manage that?"

Arati: “Absolutely! I've done a lot of things now over many, many years. So, absolutely. I've been in organizations that just weren't very functional. I've been in companies when they weren't thriving.

I remember, just to be very specific, I briefly was the chief technology officer of a publicly traded company. This was 1997. The company wasn't in great shape and about a year after I left, it got acquired by a bigger company. What I learned from that was none of the people I worked with were being super effective. There just wasn’t anyone who could be a star.

I didn't realize it until later, but almost everyone I worked with went on and did something else and many of them were stars. But at that time, they were stuck in an environment where they couldn't be great. That just taught me a lot about how in addition to your personal characteristics, the environment you're in matters.

If you're in a place that's not functioning, then you're not going to be that great either. Learn from that and then move to another place, take another shot, find a place where you really can shine and then bigger things happen.”

Liz: "Some fellows, especially the early career fellows, may perceive if the stars are not aligning it could be a ‘them’ thing. Rather than having the perspective that it could just be that next position could be a better fit."

Arati: “I have failed at so many things and what I always tell my daughters is to fail early and often. They roll their eyes because they've heard me say their whole lives, but you have to get over that that sense of failing and learning from it.

And sometimes it is you, right? But then you’ve got to learn from that and then navigate to a place where what you are really good at and all that you have learned really can be effective.”

Can you describe a project or initiative you've been involved with since completing your fellowship that you're particularly proud of?

Arati: “That was so long ago that I'm lucky to have a lot of stories, but I'll share one that I found particularly meaningful. In 2012, I returned to DARPA as director. I had been there as a program manager. I was gone 19 years before I came back to run it as an office director. One day, I was meeting with all of my program managers to find out what big disruptive ideas they were working on.

One of my program managers was a geneticist, an infectious disease doctor, and an Air Force colonel. Back in 2012 he said, all the conditions are right, there's gonna be another pandemic. Right now, it takes us years or decades or never to build a vaccine. But there is this research on mRNA that could be the foundation for a rapid response vaccine platform. He said, I just met this company called Moderna. They're working on mRNA for cancer, and their work could also make an impact in the infectious disease space. So, you know how the rest of that story comes out.

To be really clear, it took many, many, many other people doing heroic and miraculous things for us to actually get those vaccines ultimately in the COVID19 pandemic. But the piece that we contributed to was how fast that was possible. The role that my program manager played was enormous. The role that I played was to say yes to seemingly crazy ideas. Let me tell you, in 2012, everyone else thought that was the nuttiest thing they'd ever heard. We got a lot of criticism. But you know, that's what DARPA is for. It’s for us to do things that a lot of people don't think are feasible, but if they work, they change the world. And that one definitely changed the world, so that was just a great, great privilege to be part of.”

Can you share a challenging situation you’ve faced in your career or office environment and how you handled it? What strategies or approaches did you find most effective in overcoming that challenge?

Arati: “Oh, my goodness, such a wealth of examples to pick from. I think the most challenging issues arise when people aren't aligned, people issues. Science and technology is easy. On the other hand, people are the most interesting and most challenging part of trying to get anything done.

One example is from when I was a first-time and newly promoted manager at DARPA. One of my program managers never seemed to be able to lock into an idea and drive it forward. I am very much a “commit to something and just go do it” kind of person. One day, just for fun, we were all doing these personality quizzes. What I learned was enormously helpful.

That particular program manager really felt that if she committed to a particular path that she was cutting off other options, which is what was holding her back. This helped me understand where she was coming from, and it allowed us to find a way forward. Hard problems like budding heads with someone leads to not being able to make progress.

However, if you step back, develop a little empathy, get inside their heads, get a better understanding of where they're coming from, and if everyone's acting in good faith, that really helps find a path forward. Very often, developing empathy and seeking to understand where people are coming from is an effective approach to overcoming people issues.”

Can you tell us about a hobby or interest of yours that people might be surprised to learn about? And how do you balance your professional life with personal interest and hobbies outside of work?

Arati: “I think my husband would laugh if I tried to tell you that I have been successful in managing personal and business. The only wise thing I've ever heard about that is someone who said you can sometimes achieve a sense of balance over a year, but you really can't do it every single day.

Life can get overwhelmed with intense jobs, in particular. The thing that really brings me a lot of joy, relaxation, and re-centering is time, especially with my daughters, who are now in their twenties. We love to cook together. Often, that's Indian food, but my younger daughter just taught me how to make corn tortillas from scratch, which I'm super into.

Here on the East Coast, they're hard to find, so I've been missing them. My home is California. I really love all the wonderful, fresh, food choices that are there, including fresh corn tortillas. But now I've learned how to make them at home because of my younger daughter. That's as close as it comes to actually having some kind of counterbalance to work these days.”

To keep up with Arati, you can follow her work on the OSTP website and her career JOURNEY on LinkedIn.

The Alumni Spotlight Series features distinguished alumni who served as AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow who have leveraged their fellowship placement to propel their careers. Know of any STPF alumni who align with these criteria? Please email stpf-alumni@aaas.org to be considered for a profile. 

Author

Elizabeth O. Akinbiyi, Ph.D., Health Liaison and Biomedical Educator 
2023-2025 Executive Branch Fellow at the U.S. National Institutes of Health 
LinkedIn

Editor

Andrew Czeidinski, Ph.D.
2023-2025 Executive Branch Fellow at the U.S. National Science Foundation 

Sharmini Pitter Boghos, Ph.D., Environmental Earth System Science and Archaeology 
2023-2025 Executive Branch Fellow at the U.S. National Science Foundation 
LinkedIn

References

1. Sleek, S. (2023, July 13). Toxic workplaces leave employees sick, scared, and looking for an exit. How to combat unhealth conditions. Apa.org; American Psychological Association. http://www.apa.org/topics/health-workplaces/toxic-workplace
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022). Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being – Current Priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General. Www. Hhs.gov. https://www.Hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html
3. Dhanani L. Y., LaPalme M. L., Joseph D. L. (2021). How prevalent is workplace mistreatment? A meta‐analytic investigation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(8), 1082–1098. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2534
4. Kiewitz, C., Restubog, S. L. D., Shoss, M. K., Garcia, P. R. J. M., & Tang, R. L. (2016). Suffering in silence: Investigating the role of fear in the relationship between abusive supervision and defensive silence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(5), 731–742. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000074