Stephen Winchell

Stephen Winchell joined DARPA as its 24th director in May 2025. In this role, he establishes the strategic vision and leads the agency in developing high-risk, high-reward breakthrough technologies that create and prevent technological surprise for national security.

Prior to this appointment, he led the artificial intelligence and autonomy portfolio for the Department of War’s Strategic Capabilities Office. Previously, Winchell served as Chief Engineer for the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team (Project Maven). His technical leadership has spanned numerous roles inside and outside of the government including as a Presidential Innovation Fellow at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and a venture-backed AI security startup.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Winchell began his military career on active duty as a submarine officer aboard USS Charlotte (SSN 766) and later returned to Annapolis as a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He subsequently completed a career in the U.S. Navy Reserve, retiring after operational counterterrorism deployments, service at the Office of Naval Research, and joint assignments supporting U.S. Cyber Command with a combined 20 years of military service.

Winchell is a rescue SCUBA diver, skydiver, avid student of military history, and always appreciates a good book recommendation.

Education

• MBA, University of Virginia
• M.S., Systems Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
• M.S., Applied Physics, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School
• B.S., Physics, U.S. Naval Academy