As the President and CEO for the UA-ARC, Austin Yamada is responsible for the strategic development and operations of the University of Arizona’s Applied Research Corporation.

Austin K. Yamada is the President and CEO of the University of Arizona Applied Research Corporation (UA-ARC).  Mr. Yamada is responsible for the overall management and operations of the non-profit, 501(c)3 corporation.  The UA-ARC was established in October 2018 to support the strategic vision and land grant mission of the University of Arizona by leveraging its strengths in optics, cyber operations, hypersonics, quantum information science, space situational awareness and other research disciplines to execute classified projects or other conditional or restricted activities that cannot otherwise be easily executed directly by UArizona.  Prior to assuming the leadership of UA-ARC, Mr. Yamada served as the Director of the Defense and Security Research Institute (DSRI) at the University of Arizona where he led an interdisciplinary center focused on national security applications of UArizona research.

Mr. Yamada had a distinguished 25-year career in the Department of Defense and served in various positions of increasing responsibility in intelligence and policy, eventually retiring as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he was responsible for oversight of the United States Special Operations Command and the counterterrorism operations of the Department of Defense.  Mr. Yamada served twelve years in the Senior Executive Service and received numerous awards for his government service achieving the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive.

Prior to coming to UArizona in 2015, Mr. Yamada worked in the defense industry and in academia, including serving as Vice President for Intelligence Research at the Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation; Senior Vice President for Strategy and Business Development at QinetiQ North America Mission Solutions Group; Vice President for National Security Strategy at ManTech International Corporation; and as Director of Business Development and Homeland Security at Lockheed Martin Corporation Mission Solutions Group.

Mr. Yamada received a B.S. degree in Earth Science from Montana State University, a Master of Engineering Degree in Remote Sensing and Analytical Photogrammetry from Virginia Tech and was a Senior Executive Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an Intelligence Fellow at the Wye Institute.