Leadership

Dr. Rick Muller serves as the Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). As IARPA's sixth full-time director, he is responsible for implementing high-risk, high-payoff, technically viable research programs to address the Intelligence Community's most challenging intelligence gaps and provide our nation with an overwhelming intelligence advantage. Prior to joining IARPA, Dr. Muller was senior manager of Quantum and Advanced Microsystems at Sandia National Laboratories and led the Quantum Information Science program there. He also served as the director of Department of Energy's (DOE) Quantum Systems Accelerator, one of the five centers DOE created under the National Quantum Initiative. From 2016 to 2017, Dr. Muller led the drive for advanced computational capabilities for national security as part of the Joint Program Office for the National Strategic Computing Initiative. Before taking on management roles, his research interests focused on developing computational methods to predict the behavior and applications of novel materials, molecules, and devices. Dr. Muller holds a bachelor's degree from Rice University and a doctorate from the California Institute of Technology in chemistry. Dr. Muller was raised outside of Chicago and enjoys baking bread, drinking coffee, and spending time with his wife Tess and their son Alex.

Dr. La Rhonda Nicholas joined IARPA in July 2023 as the Deputy Director, to partner with the Director in leading the implementation of high-risk, high-payoff technically viable research programs that address the IC’s most challenging intelligence gaps. Coming from industry as a polymeric materials research engineer, Dr. Nicholas joined the CIA in 2001 as a Materials Engineer, amassing multiple positions to advance R&D efforts in biometrics, biomaterials, data integration, and cyber over the course of her career. Her previous assignments include a variety of notable positions across the IC, to include a dual-hatted position as the DNI and DCIA Senior Representative to the Department of Defense, where she ensured effective communication and collaboration on sensitive operational and intelligence matters. Dr. Nicholas also served as the DNI appointed Program Manager for the JASONS corporate program and a Legislative Assistant on the personal staff of a Congressman in the US House of Representatives. As a member of the CIA Senior Technical Service, she has a proven record of leading change, implementing strategic direction and collaborative teambuilding. Dr. Nicholas received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Materials Engineering from University of Maryland College Park and her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Hampton University.

Mr. Robert Rahmer is IARPA’s Office Director for Analysis Research. Mr. Rahmer joined IARPA in 2014 as a Program Manager. He specialized in discovering and developing novel proactive and predictive methods for securing computational environments, and led the CAUSE, CORE3D, VirtUE and FUSE programs. Mr. Rahmer’s primary research focus included cybersecurity, cyber-event forecasting, cyber-actor behavior and cultural understanding, threat intelligence, threat modeling, cyber-event coding, and cyber-kinetic event detection. Prior to arriving at IARPA, Mr. Rahmer led several technical computer network operations teams that focused on reverse engineering, incident response, tactical development, and cyber threat intelligence analysis, in support of multiple government organizations. Mr. Rahmer has supported the IC since 2003 in various roles as a contractor, providing technical expertise in cyber-security analysis, security engineering, and cyber intelligence analyst training for commercial, Department of Defense, and IC organizations. He also served in the U.S. Navy as part of its Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. Mr. Rahmer holds a master’s degree in computer science from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He also holds several industry information security certifications, including the Certified Information System Security Professional certification.