Bio
BioDr. Andrew Mara is head of the National Security Analysis Department at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where he leads the analytic team assessing the capabilities needed to solve the most pressing challenges of our national-security sponsors and the nation’s decision-makers. He sets the vision for his executive team in the identification, guidance, and assessment of the department’s analytical work and acquisition of its analytic talent. He defines and ensures execution of the department’s approximately $50 million of funded work on large-scale, complex analyses of national security issues. He was previously the executive vice president at the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA) as well as a member of the Senior Executive Service as the deputy director, Capability Enablers, of the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In that role, he was awarded a Presidential Rank Award and the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Medal. Dr. Mara earned a B.A. in economics and a B.S. in molecular biology from UC San Diego and a Ph.D. in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology from Yale University.
