Arun Seraphin

Former Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs
Research Interests Bureaucracy, Science & Technology Policy, Technology & Innovation
Areas of Interest National Security, Technology Policy, Congress, Defense Research, Emerging Technologies

Biography

Dr. Arun A. Seraphin is the Deputy Director of the Emerging Technologies Institute at the National Defense Industrial Association. In this role, he helps lead a nonpartisan institute focused on technologies that are critical to the future of national defense, and provides research and analyses to inform the development and integration of emerging technologies and policies to support defense missions.

Between 2014 and 2021, Dr. Seraphin was a Professional Staff Member on the staff of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services. His areas of responsibility included acquisition policy, funding and policies for the Department of Defense’s science and technology programs and information technology systems, technology transition issues, defense laboratories and test ranges, Small Business Innovation Research program, manufacturing programs, test and evaluation programs, and Pentagon management issues. He rejoined the committee staff in 2014, after previously serving there between 2001 and 2010.

From 2010 to 2014, Dr. Seraphin served as the Principal Assistant Director for National Security and International Affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). During this time, he both led (in an Acting capacity) and served as the deputy director of the OSTP National Security and International Affairs division. He was on detail to OSTP from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where he was the Special Assistant for Policy Initiatives to the Director of DARPA. Dr. Seraphin has also worked on the United States House of Representatives Committee on Science’s Subcommittee on Research and the Institute for Defense Analyses.

Research

Dr. Seraphin currently performs research on the military use of advanced microelectronics, policies on the use of autonomous weapons systems, funding of defense science and technology programs, military software research activities, and defense acquisition and procurement policies and practices.

Dr. Seraphin earned a Ph.D. in Electronic Materials from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he performed research on silicon nanotechnology. His research focused on the development of novel silicon nanostructures and tailoring their optical properties. He also holds bachelor’s degrees in Political Science with a concentration in American Government and Engineering Science with a concentration in Materials Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook

Publications

Energy Efficiency Is a Warfighting Imperative, 9/2/2022, National Defense Magazine

A Little Applause for the 2022 Budget Request, 7/1/2022, National Defense Magazine

Turning the So-Called 'Valley of Death' Green, 5/27/2022, National Defense Magazine

Teaching

National Security, Innovation, and the Congress

Recent News

A new Watson Institute initiative will provide Brown Masters of Public Affairs students and International and Public Affairs concentrators with additional opportunities to make valuable connections and receive career advice from distinguished Watson senior fellows.
Read Article
News from Watson

Spring 2023 practitioner-led study groups

These not-for-credit study groups provide an opportunity for students to delve deeply into topics and apply theory and research to real world challenges. Enrollment in each group is limited to 25 students. 
Read Article