NDIA Board Chair announces new board leadership
ARLINGTON, VA – NDIA Board Chair Maj Gen Arnold L. Punaro, USMC (Ret.) announced today that the NDIA board has elected the Hon. Michael Bayer, president and CEO of Dumbarton Strategies, LLC, as the new chair of the organization’s board of directors, with his position effective from Oct. 1. Bayer will lead NDIA’s board for two years. The Hon. Lisa S. Disbrow, 25th Under Secretary of the Air Force, was elected to take over from Bayer as vice chair after serving as NDIA’s compensation committee chair.
Bayer succeeds Arnold Punaro, CEO of The Punaro Group, LLC, whose two-year term as board chair has concluded. Punaro will continue to serve NDIA for two years as its chair emeritus, as well as chair of NDIA’s nomination and governance committee, and as chair of the advisory board of the Emerging Technologies Institute.
Punaro welcomed the leaders in their new roles. “Bayer brings a highly experienced and successful leadership record to NDIA: in uniform, on Capitol Hill, and in ever-increasing senior positions with the executive branch as well as in industry, his track record is unsurpassed,” said Punaro. “We are incredibly fortunate to benefit from his battle-tested leadership as we deal with rapidly evolving national security challenges in government and industry.
“Disbrow’s deep experience in leadership roles ranging from industry boards to her 23 years of service in the military, extensive experience in the executive branch culminating in her role as the 25th Under Secretary of the Air Force, provides exceptional insights and abilities to position NDIA as a preeminent organization,” Punaro said.
In addition to his role as president of Dumbarton Strategies, LLC, Bayer holds leadership roles on numerous corporate boards with extensive experience in industry. He is the three time former chair of the Defense Business Board and was also a long-serving member of the Defense Science Board. He has served every secretary of defense from Bill Perry to Mark Esper and has been recognized for his contributions with DoD’s highest civilian awards: four Defense Distinguished Service Medals, two Navy Distinguished Service Medals, and one Army Distinguished Service Medal.
Alongside her role as Under Secretary of the Air Force, Disbrow also served as Acting Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of Defense’s Principal DOD Space Advisor. She led a global organization of more than 660,000 personnel and an annual budget of over $135 billion. She has over 32 years of military and national security service in the Department of Defense, National Security Council, and the National Reconnaissance Office in addition to multiple board leadership roles with industry.
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