Vishal Giare is the mission area executive for Air and Missile Defense at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. He is responsible for setting direction for a mission area conducting sponsored work focused on developing advanced ballistic missile defense (BMD) and air defense systems to provide integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) for the nation, deployed forces, and allies. He oversees the Laboratory’s portfolio of Air and Missile Defense programs, including Aegis, Standard Missile, Cooperative Engagement Capability, Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, Ground-based Midcourse Defense, and other Missile Defense Agency (MDA) programs. Mr. Giare has contributed to developing BMD sensors, command and control, and weapon systems and has served as a trusted agent and technical advisor to senior U.S. Navy and MDA leaders. In 2016, he was appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to serve on the Naval Studies Board Committee on Defending Forward-Deployed U.S. Navy Platforms from Potential Enemy Missile and Rocket Attacks. He has also completed Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in National and International Security Program. Mr. Giare earned a B.S. in physics from the University of Tennessee and M.S. degrees in physics and electrical engineering systems from the University of Michigan.