Davida Johnson

Davida Johnson is the Managing Director for the UCLA Office of Advanced Research Computing (OARC). She has overall responsibilities for the day-to-day administrative and operational functions for the OARC providing leadership, management, and vision to ensure the organization has the right balance of operational controls, administrative and reporting procedures, and diverse talent able to maximize their contributions and effectiveness within the organization.   She also has oversight over the development and tactical implementation of the ongoing strategic roadmap of the OARC working across the unit leadership in support of the research mission of the university.  In addition, Davida oversees public-private partnership programs that aim to develop collaborative research initiatives within the local and national information technology communities in both public and private sectors.

Having earned a joint Bachelor of Science degree from M.I.T. in Humanities and Computer Science Engineering, Davida’s diverse background helps to bridge the gap and communicate and collaborate with a variety of stakeholders.  She is an avid supporter of women in technology and co-leads the UCLA Women in Technology initiative, which she launched in 2015.

Davida began her career in the Center for Theoretical Studies of Physical Systems at Clark-Atlanta University, where she worked as a research assistant developing software programs to help build enemy target detection algorithms to identify foreign military tanks, funded by the Army Research Laboratory.  Davida continued her career as a software developer and program manager for Accenture, then in various technical project manager roles at Warner Bros. Entertainment before joining UCLA.