2 former federal employees join NPS Foundation Advisory Council

MONTEREY, Calif. - Dec. 28, 2021 - PRLog -- The Naval Postgraduate School Foundation added two Advisory Council members as of December 20. These two leaders have a broad range of expertise in supporting Department of Defense initiatives through education, research and development, and public-private partnerships.

The Hon. Dov Zakheim (https://www.npsfoundation.org/advisory-council/dov-zakheim) is Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Senior Fellow at the CNA Corporation, a federally funded think tank. Previously he was Senior Vice President of Booz Allen Hamilton where he led the Firm's support of U.S. Combatant Commanders worldwide. From 2001 to 2004 Zakheim served as Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Defense.

Vice Adm. Ronald Route (https://www.npsfoundation.org/advisory-council/ronald-route) retired from the U.S. Navy in 2008. He served in a civilian capacity as the president of the Naval Postgraduate School from 2013-2019, and holds a Master's of Science in Operations Research from NPS. His significant active duty career assignments included Naval Inspector General, President of the Naval War College, and two tours on the Chief of Naval Operations staff. Route brings more than twenty years of senior leadership experience, with responsibilities in graduate education, program requirements and resources, international affairs, and research and development.

"The diverse experiences of the NPS Foundation Advisory Council members is vital to guiding the Foundation's support and advocacy to the Naval Postgraduate School," said retired Adm. Michael Mullen, chair of NPSF's Advisory Council.

"Vice Admiral Route's extensive background with NPS coupled with his experience as a trusted Navy leader provides valuable insight into the needs of the students and faculty as well as to the importance of NPS' transformation and research initiatives to the larger DOD," he added. "While Dr. Zakheim's experience as both a senior DOD civilian and a senior executive in the defense industry will greatly enhance our impact to public-private partnerships with NPS and drive initiatives with DOD strategy in mind."

The new members join at an exciting juncture for both the Foundation and the Naval Postgraduate School. The Foundation remains focused on the future opportunities and impact that the students and faculty on campus could have on U.S. national security priorities.

In 2021, the NPS Foundation deepened its corporate relationships with new research partners while seeing corporate partners like Xerox, TMGcore, Microsoft and AT&T deliver outcomes to NPS and the Department of the Navy. The NPS Foundation is also supporting the transformation of the Naval Postgraduate School by funding the schematic design of the Applied Design Center, a new facility that will better enable advanced research and collaboration in classified and unclassified settings.

"These additions to our Advisory Council will broaden our connections and support the engine of innovation that prepares our nation to face the complex issues of today and tomorrow," said Rich Patterson, NPS Foundation & Alumni Association CEO.