Under Secretary Gansler To Head New Initiative At The University Of Maryland School Of Public Affairs - Jacques S. Gansler, ex-public official - Brief Article

Program Manager, Jan, 2001

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -Jacques S. Gansler, former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, joined the University of Maryland School of Public Affairs (MSPA) in January 2001 as the first holder of the Roger C. Lipitz Chair in Public Policy and Private Enterprise.

The endowed chair was established with a major gift from Roger C. Lipitz, chairman of the quasi public Baltimore Development Corporation, and grew from his interest in preparing policymakers for a new age where the lines between public, private, and non-profit are increasingly blurred.

As the Lipitz Chair, Dr. Gansler will both teach in, and lead the Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise, the cornerstone of a major initiative at the Maryland School of Public Affairs designed to help "reinvent" the relationships among business, government, and the non-profit sector in the United States. The Center will focus on research, teaching, and education that builds mutual understanding and reciprocal learning among current and future leaders in public service and private endeavors.

"We are very excited about the future of this center under Dr. Gansler's leadership," said University of Maryland President C. D. Mote Jr. "He brings considerable experience in both public service and private enterprise to help shape an education and research program that explores, and ultimately redefines, the complex relationships across these sectors.

Dr. Gansler brings to the Maryland School of Public Affairs demonstrated entrepreneurial and leadership skills, national and international involvement in the defense and management communities, strong academic credentials, and a wealth of experience at high levels of government and business.

"With his reputation for thinking 'outside the box Dr. Gansler is particularly well suited to lead this new center," said MSPA Dean Susan C. Schwab. "We expect his work here will have a profound impact on how government, business, and nonprofit agencies work together in the future to address the nation's biggest problems."

As the third ranking civilian at the Pentagon from 1997 to 2001, Gansler oversaw all research and development, acquisition reform, logistics, and advanced technology programs, in addition to the defense technology and industrial base. He was responsible for an annual budget of about $180 billion of the approximately $290 total Department of Defense budget.

Before joining the Clinton Administration, Gansler served as Executive Vice President and Director for TASC, Inc., an applied information technology company in Arlington, Va. that grew from a small business to a multi-million dollar enterprise during his tenure.

Before 1977, Dr. Gansler held a variety of positions in government and the private sector, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Assistant Director of Defense Research and Engineering, Vice President of ITT, and positions with Singer and Raytheon corporations.

During his time at TASC, Dr. Gansler served on a variety of special commissions and blue ribbon paneis, including as Vice Chairman of the Defense Science Board, and on several government commissions studying acquisition reform. He also served on the School's Board of Visitors, which he chaired until 1996.

Throughout his career, Dr. Gansler has written, published, and taught on subjects related to his work. He has served as a Visiting Scholar at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University from 1984 to 1999, and earlier as a Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia. He has taught classes and lectured on subjects ranging from government budgeting to government and industry management of high technology at the Maryland School of Public Affairs, the Jerusalem Institute of Management, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is the author of Defense Conversion: Transforming the Arsenal of Democracy, MiT Press, 1995; Affording Defense, MIT Press, 1989; and The Defense Industty, MIT Press, 1990. He has testified in congressional hearings and has published numerous articles in Foreign Affairs, Harvard Business Review International Security, Public Affairs, and other journals and newspapers.

Along with his Ph.D. in economics from American University, Gansler holds a Master of Arts in Political Economy from the New School for Social Research, a Master of Science from Northeastern University in Electrical Engineering, and a Bachelor's from Yale University in Electrical Engineering

Editor's Note: This information was released by the University of Maryland School of Public Affairs (www.puaf.umd.edu/news/jganslerhnnl).