Johns Hopkins APL Names Ann Kedia as Chief Communications Officer

Ann Kedia has been named the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory’s (APL) chief communications officer and head of the Lab’s Communications Department (COMM). In this role, Kedia leads a department of communications professionals working to convey and elevate the impact of the Laboratory’s innovations on the nation and the world.

“Ann’s strong leadership has helped guide the highly successful Communications Department since its inception,” said APL Director Ralph Semmel. “The department has an important role — sharing the Laboratory’s impact on a myriad of missions and critical challenges — and I am confident it will continue to thrive and grow its impact with Ann at the helm.”

Since joining the Laboratory in 2009, Kedia has held a variety of leadership roles. Notably, she played a vital role in launching and leading APL’s Innovation Program, a highly successful, Laboratory-wide initiative focused on incentivizing the pursuit of bold technical ideas and ensuring APL continues as a world-class center for innovation. She takes over as COMM department head after serving as the nascent department’s managing executive since its establishment in 2020.

“I am honored to take over as the head of this department and lead our talented team of enthusiastic and creative communications experts,” Kedia said. “It is our role to elevate the critical work of the Laboratory — sharing those innovations to benefit our sponsors, our nation and the entire technology community.”

Kedia came to APL after serving as a vice president at T. Rowe Price, where her team was responsible for technology implementation and operational process reengineering to support the investments and business operations divisions. A systems engineer to begin her career, Kedia served as an engineering manager for Singer Link Simulation Systems, and later GSE Systems, on numerous full-scope simulators for nuclear and fossil power plant applications.

Kedia earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University and a master’s degree in technical management from Johns Hopkins University (JHU). She serves on the program committee for Engineering Management at JHU’s Whiting School of Engineering and is a graduate of both Leadership Howard County and Leadership Baltimore County.