Born in 1980, five years after his parents moved to Ohio from Nigeria, John Oluseun Dabiri is a Nigerian-American engineer and professor who became popular for his research on how jellyfish swim and his design of wind farms inspired by fish movements.
From 2005 to 2009, Dabiri was an assistant professor at Caltech in aeronautics and biological engineering. He received tenure in 2009 and was promoted to full professor in 2010. Between 2013 and 2014, he served as chair of the Faculty Board. During the 2014/15 school year, he was the Dean of Undergraduate Students.
His father was a mechanical engineer and math teacher while his mother was a computer scientist who started her own software company. Dabiri attended a small Baptist high school and graduated as the top student in 1997. He went to Princeton University, where he studied mechanical and aerospace engineering. Later, he earned a Master’s and PhD at Caltech in Aeronautics and Bioengineering.
Dabiri has received 28 research grants throughout his career, focusing on fluid mechanics and energy. At 25, he became a professor at Caltech. He worked there for 10 years, serving in different roles, including Dean of Students. In 2015, he moved to Stanford, where he taught engineering until 2019. In 2020, he joined NVIDIA’s board. During his time there, the company saw massive growth. By March 2024, NVIDIA’s value reached $2.314 trillion.
Dabiri is one of three children. His brother, Gabriel Yomi Dabiri, is a lawyer in New York and a managing partner at Polsinelli law firm. Gabriel has received several awards for his leadership in law.
Since 2021, he has been a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
