Davida Johnson,
Executive Director (Interim),
UCLA Office of Advanced Research Computing
Davida Johnson is the Interim Executive Director for the UCLA Office of Advanced Research
Computing (OARC). She leads, manages, and provides strategic direction for the OARC (Oh-
Arc) department to ensure it effectively supports UCLA’s research technology mission and
goals. Davida has oversight for OARC’s research technology groups, research facilitation,
finance and administrative operations, human resources, public-private partnership programs,
and research and development. Davida excels as a knowledge leader in each of these areas,
bringing the departmental staff, resources, and strategy together to enhance and enable the
digital research culture of UCLA.
Davida values principles such as establishing a continuous improvement culture, inclusivity,
efficient problem solving, and habitual-positivity. Davida currently co-teaches a newly
developed UCLA Engineering course (ENG170), a 10-week Project-based Tech Bootcamp for
Social Impact, where she guides undergraduates in the creation and development of an MVP
that tackles societal issues in civic, educational, and/or health tech. Through OARC, Davida is
also the UCLA program sponsor and board member of Innovate@UCLA, a 43 year-young
community of established technology leaders and innovators within the Southern California
region.
With a unique blend of technical and creative ability, Davida earned a Bachelor of Science
degree from MIT in Creative Writing and Computer Science Engineering.
Outside of her professional work, Davida enjoys challenging DIY home projects, mentoring
young adults, and teaching digital skills to women survivors of homelessness and sex
trafficking. She is an advocate for diversity and inclusion at all levels, and committed to
developing new generations of leaders who will benefit society through service.
Davida has worked as a Research Assistant and Sys Admin at HBCU Clark-Atlanta University,
tech consultant at Accenture, and Technical Project Manager at Warner Bros prior to joining
UCLA in 2013 as the Director of Community Partnership Programs
