Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper selected Jason Matheny as the next director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), effective immediately, the Office of the Director (ODNI) said Monday.

Matheny succeeds Peter Highnam, who left the agency in July to become Director of InnoVision at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

Dr. Jason Matheny, the new Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). Photo: Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
Jason Matheny, the new Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). Photo: Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Previously, Matheny served as director of IARPA’s office for Anticipating Surprise, which oversees research efforts to develop new capabilities to deliver timely and accurate forecasts for events relevant to national security, ODNI said.

Simultaneously, Matheny was program manager of the Open Source Indicators program, the Foresight and Understanding from Scientific Exposition program, and the Forecasting Science and Technology program.

Matheny joined ODNI in 2009 as a program manager of IARPA’s office of Incisive Analysis.

Before joining IARPA, Matheny worked at Oxford University, Princeton University, the World Bank, the Center for Biosecurity, the Applied Physics Laboratory, and co-founded two biotechnology companies.

“Jason brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position and I’m confident that he will continue to maintain the high bar for technical excellence and relevance to our Intelligence Community mission. I look forward to him continuing to work closely with partners throughout the national security community to bring to bear our future capabilities,” Clapper said in a statement.