About me
I am the Vice President for Innovation at Davie Defense, a multi-national shipbuilding and advanced manufacturing company.
I most recently served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition, responsible for the Navy and Marine Corps’ research, development, acquisition, and sustainment enterprise, as well as its contracting community. Before that, I served as Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, advising the Secretary of Defense on the operational effectiveness and survivability of U.S. military systems and reporting independently to Congress.
My early career was shaped by a “citizen-sailor” model—serving simultaneously as a civil servant and Navy Reservist. This dual perspective has informed my work across submarine operations, shipbuilding, and the development, testing and sustainment of advanced weapons, sensors, and combat systems.
I have also conducted applied research at the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering and Virginia Tech's National Security institutes, focusing on software-reliant and cyber-physical systems. Today, I also serve on the boards of non-profit organizations.
I am particularly passionate about driving change in the maritime industrial base, defense acquisition, advancing the application of MOSA, improving systems engineering, and developing innovative business strategies that deliver capability faster and more effectively to the customer.
