CNAS Senior Fellow Ben FitzGerald Named Professional Staff Member for the Senate Armed Services Committee (Majority Staff)

Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Senior Fellow and Technology and National Security Program Director Ben FitzGerald will join the Majority Staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Senator John McCain (R-AZ). There, he will focus on a host of issues, including acquisitions policy and the defense industrial base. FitzGerald has served at CNAS since 2013.

“We are pleased that Senator McCain and the Senate Armed Services Committee have called on such a talented and innovative professional like Ben,” said CNAS CEO Michèle Flournoy. “Ben was a leader here at CNAS, and had ideas that were both cutting edge and practical. Yet his departure underscores a key part of CNAS’ mission: to prepare future national security leaders for public service. We congratulate him on his appointment, but we will miss him dearly.”

While at CNAS, FitzGerald led many important projects making recommendations for how the Department of Defense could improve technology and business outcomes by developing better strategy and policy. His work included Future Foundry, which sought to establish a positive vision for how DoD can better collaborate with industry partners to maintain U.S. military technological advantages; 12 Months In – 8 Months Left, which assessed Secretary Carter’s innovation agenda; and Creative Disruption, which built a community of interest to examine the challenges facing U.S. military technology strategy to advance solutions for the Pentagon and defense industry.

FitzGerald joins a long line of former CNAS leaders who have entered key policy-making positions in the U.S. government.