Kendall Tapped

The White House today announced plans to nominate Frank Kendall to be deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition and technology. If confirmed, he will serve under Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter.

Here's Kendall's bio, as released by the White House:

Frank Kendall is currently a Managing Partner at Renaissance Strategic Advisors, an Arlington, Virginia based aerospace and defense sector consulting firm. Mr. Kendall has over 35 years of experience in engineering, management, defense acquisition and national security affairs in private industry, government and the military. For the past decade Mr. Kendall had been a consultant to defense industry firms, non-profit research organizations, and the Department of Defense in the areas of strategic planning, engineering management, and technology assessment. For the past several years Mr. Kendall has also been very active as an attorney in the field of human rights, working primarily on a pro bono basis. He has worked with Amnesty International USA, where he is currently a member of the Board of Directors, Human Rights First, for whom he has been an observer at Guantanamo, and for the Tahirih Justice Center, where he is currently Chair of the Board of Directors. Within government, Mr. Kendall held the position of Director of Tactical Warfare Programs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the position of Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategic Defense Systems. Mr. Kendall was Vice President of Engineering for Raytheon Co, where he was responsible for management direction to the engineering functions throughout the company and for internal research and development. Mr. Kendall also spent ten years on active duty with the Army, serving in Germany, as an Assistant Professor of Engineering at West Point, and in research and development positions. Mr. Kendall is a former member of the Army Science Board and the Defense Intelligence Agency Science and Technology Advisory Board and he is currently a consultant to the Defense Science Board and a Senior Advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Mr. Kendall was born in Pittsfield, MA. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and he holds a Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering from California Institute of Technology, a Master of Business Administration Degree from C.W Post Center of Long Island University, and a Juris Doctoris from Georgetown University Law Center.