Michèle Flournoy

Flournoy earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies from Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private research university in Massachusetts, established by the Massachusetts Bay Colony legislature in 1636 and named in 1639 for early benefactor John Harvard. Its principal campuses are in Cambridge and the Allston and Longwood neighborhoods of Boston. It includes Harvard College, graduate and professional schools, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Two governing boards share oversight. Alan M. Garber was president as of October 2026, and the endowment stood at $56.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2025.Open the full entry and a master’s degree in international relations from Balliol College, University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university in Oxford, England, where teaching existed in some form by 1096; it describes itself as the oldest university in the English-speaking world and is organised as a federal system of the university and dozens of self-governing colleges.Open the full entry, where she was a Newton-Tatum scholar.⁠[1][2]

In the mid-1990s Flournoy served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction.⁠[1]

She later served as a distinguished research professor at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University and spent several years as a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).⁠[2]

In January 2007 Flournoy co-founded the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a think tank, and served as its president until 2009.⁠[1][3]

Before her confirmation, Flournoy co-led President Barack Obama’s transition team at the Department of Defense. From February 2009 to February 2012 she served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and she led the development of the department’s 2012 Strategic Guidance.⁠[1][2]

In 2014 Flournoy returned to CNAS as chief executive officer, serving until 2017; she later became chair of CNAS.⁠[4][1]

On November 9, 2016, Andreessen HorowitzAndreessen HorowitzAndreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. It invests from the seed stage through the growth stage and provides operational support to its portfolio companies.Open the full entry (a16z) released the episode “a16z Podcast: What’s Next for Technology and National Security?” It features a conversation held the previous month between Flournoy and a16z co-founder Marc AndreessenMarc AndreessenMarc Andreessen is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, a co-founder and general partner of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). While in college he helped develop the graphical web browser Mosaic, then co-founded Netscape and Loudcloud (later renamed Opsware), and has long served as a director of Meta; he has also published essays such as “Why Software Is Eating the World.”Open the full entry, moderated by Matt Spence, a partner on a16z’s policy and regulatory affairs team and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.⁠[5][6]

The discussion covered technology procurement and bureaucratic overload, the politics of industrial policy, ethical debates over use cases for new technologies, a shifting international landscape, and the larger cyberattack surface created by the spread of computing and networking, as well as how policymakers and technologists can work together to keep the United States competitive.⁠[5][7]

The episode was uploaded to the a16z YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel on January 1, 2019.⁠[7]

In 2017 Flournoy co-founded the strategic advisory firm WestExec Advisors, where she is managing partner.⁠[1][3]

In December 2020 President-elect Joe Biden selected retired general Lloyd Austin as his secretary of defense over Flournoy, who had long been seen as the front-runner and would have been the first woman to serve in the post.⁠[8]

Flournoy is a director of Booz Allen Hamilton and chairs its nominating and corporate governance committee; she has served as a director of CSRA Inc., the MITRE Corporation and Rolls-Royce North America, and was a director of Astra Space until 2024; she has also served as a senior adviser at Boston Consulting Group.⁠[4]

She also serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign RelationsThe Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is a nonpartisan, independent U.S. membership organization and think tank founded in 1921 and based in New York, which has published Foreign Affairs since 1922 and takes no institutional positions on policy; Michael Froman has been its 15th president since 2023.Open the full entry, Amida Technology Solutions, CARE, Spirit of America and The War Horse, on advisory boards including those of PIMCOPIMCOPIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company) is a fixed-income investment manager headquartered in Newport Beach, California. It was set up in 1971 as the money management arm of Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company and is now part of Allianz. As of September 30, 2026, it managed $2.29 trillion in assets; its chief executive is Emmanuel Roman.Open the full entry, MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft is a technology company founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington, with businesses spanning Windows, Microsoft 365, Azure, enterprise software, artificial intelligence, gaming and devices.Open the full entry, Temasek North America and the Special Competitive Studies Project, and is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group; she is a former member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the CIA Director’s External Advisory Board, the NSA Director’s Advisory Board and the Defense Policy Board.⁠[3]

Flournoy received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 1996, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1998, 2011 and 2012, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 2000 and 2012, and the American Red Cross Exceptional Service Award in 2016.⁠[2]

In 2019 she received CARE’s Global Peace, Development and Security Award, and in 2021 she received the NDIA Eisenhower Award and the Sam NunnSam NunnSam Nunn is a Democratic former U.S. senator from Georgia who served from 1972 to 1997.Open the full entry National Security Leadership Prize.⁠[1]

WestExec Advisors: Official website: https://westexec.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

X: Public account: https://x.com/micheleflournoy (opens in a new window).⁠[2]