William McCormick
Executive Mosaic is pleased to announce Patrick Shanahan, acting secretary at the Department of Defense, as an inductee into the 2019 edition of the Wash100 — Executive Mosaic’s annual selection of the most influential voices in the government contracting arena — for his role in revising the department’s cybersecurity strategy and his vision of establishing a new agency for space operations.
This honor marks his first Wash100 award win.
Shanahan was appointed acting secretary of defense by President Donald Trump in December 2018. Previously, he served as the deputy defense secretary.
In February 2018, Shanahan used the National Defense Strategy document to develop the Pentagon’s budget for 2019. He was impressed with the strategy’s focus on reform regarding the military’s force deployment efforts and the department’s cybersecurity concerns.
In September 2018, Shanahan said that cybersecurity will become the department’s standard for evaluating the defense industry. The strategy intends to increase force lethality, expand partnerships, reform the department, develop talent and help the U.S. compete in cyberspace against China and Russia. Two months later, Shanahan insisted that the Pentagon has a “great road map†for digital modernization. He said an information technology strategy could help in the consolidation of data centers and the deployment of a common financial platform.
Since March 2018, Shanahan has led the review of military space operations with the intention of creating a new agency. In October, Shanahan asked fellow Wash100 winners Heather Wilson, secretary of the U.S. Air Force and the principal space adviser for the Department of Defense, and Michael Griffin, undersecretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense, to develop separate proposals establishing a space agency. Shanahan said the creation of a “space force†is necessary to ensure U.S. superiority in space. The department hopes to establish the space development agency sometime in 2019.
In July 2017 Shanahan was appointed as the 33rd deputy secretary of defense before becoming acting secretary of defense. In 1986 he joined Boeing, where he spent three decades with the company. During his tenure, he held management roles supervising missile defense systems, the Boeing 777 program and as vice president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. In 2016, he became senior vice president for supply chain and operations.
Shanahan is a Royal Aeronautical Society Fellow, a Society of Manufacturing Engineers Fellow and an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow. He served as a regent at the University of Washington for five years and on the board of directors for the American Parkinson Disease Association.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Pat Shanahan for receiving this award.
About the Wash100
The Wash100 award, now in its sixth year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.
Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2019 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2019.
