Victoria Coleman is a Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department at UC Berkeley and the Associate Provost for the Berkeley Space Center (BSC). The BSC is a new 36-acre innovation center at NASA Ames in the heart of Silicon Valley, where academia, private industry, and government will come together to identify, incubate, and launch tomorrow’s technological breakthroughs. The BSC project is a public-private partnership that focuses on connecting and leveraging the combined capabilities of government and academic research with private industry’s innovation, entrepreneurialism, and capital in a central location designed to foster collaboration across multiple disciplines. Prior to her appointment to UC Berkeley, she led Acubed, the Silicon Valley Innovation Center of Airbus Group, executing advanced projects and disruptive research in support of Airbus Commercial, Airbus Helicopter and Airbus Defense & Space. She was also responsible for U.S. and Canada research and technology partnerships with universities, national labs and industry consortia.
Prior to Airbus she served as the 37th Chief Scientist of the Department of the Air Force where she advised the Secretary of the Air Force, the Air Force Chief of Staff and the Chief of Space Operations on all science and technology aspects of the Department’s mission. In this position she was the Principal Science and Technology Representative of the Air Force to the civilian scientific and engineering community and to the public at large. Her signature achievement was bringing closer alignment between the science & technology community of the Air Force to the needs of the warfighter. In recognition of her service, she was decorated for Exceptional Civilian Service to the Department of the Air Force, the highest honor that can be bestowed on a civilian.
Prior to the Air Force she served as the 22nd Director of DARPA. Dr. Coleman has more than 35 years of experience in computer science and technology, including as both an academic leader and industry executive. Before DARPA, she served as the Chief Executive Officer of Atlas AI P.B.C, a Silicon Valley start-up that brings world-class artificial intelligence solutions to sustainable development. Prior to running her startup, she held senior executive positions in multiple Fortune 500 companies and nonprofits, including the Wikimedia Foundation, Technicolor, Yahoo, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung and Intel. A Computer Scientist by training, she began her career as Computer Science faculty in the University of London in the UK. Her extensive volunteer government service includes 5 years on the Defense Science Board and a decade or more on DARPA advisory groups.
She is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering. She was named by Forbes among 50 women over 50 driving global innovation, recognized as a thought leader shaping public discourse and policy in aerospace and emerging technologies. She was honored as a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence for visionary leadership and transformative contributions to technology, innovation, and national research policy. Dr Coleman holds three degrees in Computer Science: A BSc and an MSc from the University of Salford as well as a PhD from the University of Manchester in the UK. She lives in Menlo Park, CA with her husband, Derek, with whom she has three grown up children, two of them also PhDs and one of them a U.S. Army Officer.