Jacques S. Gansler

Jacques S. Gansler is Professor at the School of Public Affairs, Roger C. Lipitz Chair in Public Policy and Private Enterprise, and Director of the Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise at the University of Maryland. Gansler's expertise is in national security, globalization, supply-chain management, government acquisition, advanced technology, public-private partnerships, competition, and the defense industry.

Affiliations

• Director, TASC
• Director, iRobot

Background

According to Gansler's University of Maryland biography:

"The Honorable Jacques S. Gansler, former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, is the first holder of the Roger C. Lipitz Chair in Public Policy and Private Enterprise. As the third ranking civilian at the Pentagon from 1997 to 2001, Professor Gansler was responsible for all research and development, acquisition reform, logistics, advanced technology, environmental security, defense industry, and numerous other security programs. Before joining the William Jefferson Clinton Administration, Dr. Gansler held a variety of positions in government and the private sector, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Material Acquisition), Assistant Director of Defense Research and Engineering (Electronics), Vice President of ITT, and engineering and management positions with Singer and Raytheon Corporations. Throughout his career, Dr. Gansler has written, published and taught on subjects related to his work. He is the author of Defense Conversion: Transforming the Arsenal of Democracy, MIT Press, 1995; Affording Defense, MIT Press, 1989, and The Defense Industry, MIT Press, 1980. He has published numerous articles in Foreign Affairs, Harvard Business Review, International Security, Public Affairs, and other journals as well as newspapers and frequent Congressional testimonies. In 2002 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Public Administration."

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Jacques S. Gansler, Senior Fellow of The James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership:

"Prior to [his appointment as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics], Gansler was executive vice president and corporate director for TASC, Inc., an applied information technology company, in Arlington, Virginia where he played a major role in building the company from a small operation into a large, widely recognized and respected corporation, serving both the government and the private sector."

"From 1972 to 1977, he served in the government as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (materiel acquisition), responsible for all defense procurements and the defense industry; and as Assistant Director of Defense Research and Engineering (electronics) responsible for all defense electronics research and development."

"Gansler has served on numerous corporation boards of directors, and governmental special committees and advisory boards including vice chairman, Defense Science Board; chair, Board of Visitors, Defense Acquisition University; Director, Procurement Round Table; chair, Industry Advisory Board, University of Virginia, School of Engineering; chair, Board of Visitors, University of Maryland, School of Public Affairs; member of the FAA Blue Ribbon Panel on Acquisition Reform; and senior consultant to the "Packard Commission" on Defense Acquisition Reform."

"Additionally, from 1984 to 1997, Dr. Gansler was a visiting scholar at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is the author of 3 books, a contributing author of 23 other books, author of over 100 papers, and a frequent speaker and Congressional witness."

"Gansler holds a BE in electrical engineering from Yale University, an MS in electrical engineering from Northeastern University, an MA in political economy from New School for Social Research, and a Ph.D. in economics from American University."

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