Regina Elvira Dugan
Personal Information
Born: 1963
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: Usa
Ethnicity: White
Education
Virginia Tech BS 1984, MS 1985 both in Mechanical engineering; CalTech PhD Mechanical Engineering
"“It is important to me to experience something,” Dugan said. “You learn different things about a problem when you live it; you understand it in a different way. It becomes deeply personal … and people trust you in a different way.” (eng.vt.edu); “I have never encouraged anyone to fail. We don’t encourage failure; we discourage fear of failure.” She said, "Failure isn’t the problem, it’s the fear of failure.” (eng.vt.edu); "In health care and in transportation, I believe in the power of science and technology to change our world. With this power comes the responsibility to deliver life-saving advances at scale," (businessinsider.com); "
— Regina Elvira Dugan
Professional Life
Field of Study: Mechanical Engineering
Institution/Corporation: DARPA; Wellcome Leap; CalTech; Dugan Ventures; RedXDefense
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: California State University Fullerton (2011); Member: Board of Varian Medical Systems (2013-21), Board of Zynga (2014-22), Board of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (2022); Board of Siemans (2023)
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1999 Manager of the Year, DARPA; 2000 Bronze de Fleury Medal, US Army Corps of Engineers; Award for Exceptional Service & Outstanding Achievement Award, US Secretary of Defense; 2013 Virginia Tech College of Engineering Academy of Engineering Excellence; 2014 CNBC NEXT List; 2014 named to Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business 1000; 2013 named to The Verge 50; 2013 named to Influential Women in wireless, FierceWireless; 2011 Named Tech Titan, Washingtonian Magazine; 2012 Joint Meritorious Unit Award, US Secretary of Defense
Achievements: 1st female director of DARPA 2009-12; led the research & development of the "Dog's Nose" an advanced portable system that can detect the explosive content of landmines; was Special Advisor to the Vice Chief of Staff of US Army & dida study titled "Quick Reaction Study on Countermine" that was implemented in Operation Enduring Freedom; 2012 was an executive at Google where she created & led the Advanced Technology & Projects (ATAP) at Motorola Mobility a subsidiary of Google; 2020 was CED of Wellcome Leap a non-profit organization that accelerates discovery & innovation for the benefit of human health
worked at DARPA 1996 to 2000 & returned as Director in 2009
2014 when Motorola Mobility was acquired by Lenovo she remained at Google
left google in 2016 to work at Facebook leaving there after approximately 18 months
in a NY Times article titled "New Force Behind Agency of wonder" she was "credited with having a knack for inspiring, & indeed insisting on, creative thinking"
was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 9 & given a 10% chance of survival & her family moved from chicago to Baltimore so she could receive treatment at Johns Hopkins
one of her favorite poems is "Joy & Sorrow" by Kalil Gibran
whenshe traveled to CalTech for her PhD she & some friends in 2 VW camper buses took 3 months to go from Houston to British Columbia, the Yukon, across Alaska to the Arctic circle, fished for salmon in Valdez, then down the West Coast to CalTech
is certified to fly a helicopter
holds 11 patents