It's Academic

The Defense Acquisition University has a new president.

According to a Dec. 6 memo by Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall, Katrina McFarland has been selected as the DAU's next head. "She comes with outstanding credentials and a wealth of experience at a very critical time for the department," Kendall writes. "In this capacity, Ms. McFarland will be responsible for continuing and building upon DAU's outstanding reputation as DoD's primary learning institution for the 147,000 members of the Defense Acquisition Workforce while overseeing the development of new curriculum and learning opportunities that facilitate implementation of the Under Secretary of Defense's (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) 'Better Buying Power' initiatives."

McFarland previously worked for the Missile Defense Agency, where she was MDA's director for acquisition. "In this capacity, she functioned as the MDA Acquisition Executive decision authority to define the policies and process activities to execute a single Ballistic Missile Defense System research, development and test program," Kendall's memo states.