John O. Dabiri

Dabiri received a BSE summa cum laude in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private university and Ivy League member in Princeton, New Jersey. Chartered on October 22, 1746 as the College of New Jersey, it moved to Princeton in 1756 and adopted its present name in 1896. Undergraduate education leads to A.B. and B.S.E. degrees and emphasizes small-group discussion, independent research and residential college life. Graduate education spans the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. As of October 2026, Christopher L. Eisgruber was president. Its 2026–27 operating budget was $3.407 billion, including $342 million for undergraduate aid.Open the full entry in 2001, followed by an MS in aeronautics in 2003 and a PhD in bioengineering in 2005 from the California Institute of Technology.⁠[1][2]

He joined the Caltech faculty as an assistant professor in 2005, becoming associate professor in 2009 and professor in 2010; during this time he directed the Center for Bioinspired Wind Energy, chaired the faculty and served as dean of undergraduate students from 2014 to 2016.⁠[1][2]

In 2010 he was named a MacArthur Fellow at age 30. The MacArthur Foundation describes him as a biophysicist who draws on theoretical fluid dynamics, evolutionary biology and biomechanics to unravel one of the earliest means of animal locomotion.⁠[3]

From 2015 to 2019 he was a professor of civil and environmental engineering and of mechanical engineering at Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityStanford University is a research university in California founded by Leland and Jane Stanford in 1885 and opened in 1891.Open the full entry, where he received the Eugene L. Grant Award for Excellence in Teaching; in 2019 he returned to Caltech as Centennial Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering.⁠[2][1]

On July 13, 2020, NVIDIA announced the appointment of Dabiri, then 40, to its board, expanding it to 12 members. The announcement listed his Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, his Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and his election as a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2014.⁠[4]

NVIDIA’s May 2026 proxy statement gave his age as 46 and listed him on the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee.⁠[5]

From 2021 to January 2025 he served on President Biden’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and on Energy Secretary Granholm’s Energy Advisory Board (SEAB).⁠[2][6]

On January 3, 2025, Dabiri received the National Medal of Science from Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, at a White House ceremony at which 14 people received the medal.⁠[7]

In March 2026 Caltech announced that Dabiri had been named a 2025 fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, honored for “outstanding contributions in aeronautical and biological engineering.”⁠[8]

His LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry profile lists him as a trustee of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation since September 2020 and of Princeton University since July 2026.⁠[6][2]

On November 8, 2026, the NVIDIA board began an independent investigation in light of reporting that founder and CEO Jensen HuangJensen HuangJensen Huang is a co-founder of NVIDIA who served as its president, chief executive officer, and a director from the company’s founding in 1993 until he resigned from those positions in November 2026. He has a background in electrical engineering education and the semiconductor industry, and under his leadership NVIDIA’s business expanded from graphics chips to GPU general-purpose computing, artificial intelligence, and data center computing platforms.Open the full entry had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, overseen by a committee of independent directors assisted by outside independent counsel; the board said it had no reason to believe that national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised. On November 10, the independent directors announced that they had retained Joon H. Kim, former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the investigation.⁠[9][10]

On November 11, the board accepted Jensen Huang’s resignation as president, chief executive officer and director, appointed Colette KressColette KressColette Kress is an American business executive who has been executive vice president and chief financial officer of NVIDIA since September 2013 and, since November 2026, also its interim chief executive officer following the resignation of Jensen Huang; she previously held finance positions at Texas Instruments, Microsoft and Cisco.Open the full entry interim chief executive officer and named Harvey C. JonesHarvey C. JonesHarvey C. Jones is an American entrepreneur and investor in electronic design automation who co-founded Daisy Systems in 1981, led Synopsys from 1987 to 1998 and co-founded Tensilica in 1997. An NVIDIA director since 1993, he became NVIDIA’s first-ever chair of the board on November 11, 2026.Open the full entry the company’s first-ever chair of the board; the company announced the changes on November 12.⁠[11][12]

Dabiri heads the Dabiri Lab, which works at the intersections of fluid mechanics, energy and environment, and biology. His research focuses on unsteady fluid mechanics and flow physics, with current interests in biological fluid dynamics in the ocean, next-generation wind energy and new experimental methods.⁠[2][1]

He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, where he previously chaired the Division of Fluid Dynamics, and previously served on the National Academies’ Committee on Science, Technology, and Law.⁠[2]

NVIDIA: Official website: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/ (opens in a new window).⁠[13]

California Institute of Technology: Official website: https://www.caltech.edu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[14]

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation: Official website: https://www.moore.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[15]

LinkedIn: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dabiri/ (opens in a new window).⁠[6]