Dr. Prineha Narang is an American scientist, engineer, and entrepreneur. Dr. Narang is a Professor in Physical Sciences, and in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is also a Visiting Professor of Physics at the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) and at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Program (NQCP) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Previously, Dr. Narang was an Assistant Professor of Computational Materials Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) and worked in the Department of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She received an M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
A trailblazer at the intersection of physics, engineering, and computation, she is known for her research and leadership in translating breakthrough discoveries into real-world technologies. In 2023 she was appointed a U.S. Science Envoy by the Secretary of State; she was reappointed to the role in 2024 to advocate for quantum science, technology, and innovation internationally and establish American leadership in the field. She has served in policy, technology, and national security facing roles. In 2023 she was elected to the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and appointed to the Science Advisory Council of arXiv.
Dr. Narang is an elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Her work has been recognized by many awards and special designations, including the Guggenheim Fellowship in Physics, a Maria Goeppert Mayer Award from the APS, Mildred Dresselhaus Prize, Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, a Max Planck Award from the Max Planck Society, the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Computational Physics, an National Science Foundation CAREER Award, being named a Moore Inventor Fellow by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and a Top Innovator by MIT Tech Review (MIT TR35).
Her continued leadership in science and technology includes delivering several named lectures and keynotes. Dr. Narang is an Associate Editor at ACS Nano of the American Chemical Society, an Associate Editor at Applied Physics Letters of the American Institute of Physics, and on the Editorial Advisory Boards of Nano Letters and Advanced Photonics.
Beyond all things science and deep tech, she is a dedicated endurance athlete, competitive marathoner, and high-altitude mountaineer.
