Battelle, Ohio State hire Mears

Battelle and the Ohio State University have jointly hired Zachary Mears, the former deputy chief of staff to the defense secretary and chief of staff to the deputy defense secretary.

Mears will be assistant vice president for national security and research programs at Ohio State and hold an advisory office at Battelle, Battelle said in an announcement.

"The shared leadership position with Battelle and Ohio State’s Office of Research and College of Engineering allows Mears to help the university and Battelle develop and implement a strategic relationship management plan related to national security research conducted at Ohio State and Battelle," the announcement added.

Mears worked on the Third Offset strategy as well as the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental initiative, according to the announcement. He previously was director for strategic planning for the National Security Council and worked for Scitor and Booz Allen Hamilton.