Institute for Strategic and Innovative Technologies

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Board Member

Dr. Robert Ross Fossum was named the Pentagon’s top researcher while as Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Dr. Fossum served as dean of research of the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California.  After serving in both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, Fossum used his experience in radar and communications to launch his career as a research scientist with GTE/Sylvania in California, where he worked for future Under Secretary of Defense William Perry. Much of their work there remains classified, but Fossum was credited for helping to develop national satellite-based reconnaissance systems for monitoring enemy aircraft still in use today.

As Director of DARPA, Fossum also oversaw some of the greatest growth and technological advancement for national security in the nation’s history. Under his leadership, the agency developed airborne ground-moving vehicle tracking radar, powerful chemical lasers, stealth technologies with applications for ships, aircraft and missiles, and even inter-netting protocols, which served as the foundations for the present-day Internet and Web.