Laura Taylor-Kale sworn in as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy
Laura Taylor-Kale (PhD '22) (pronounced KAH-lay) was officially sworn in as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy on June 2, 2023 at the Pentagon.
Laura serves as the first-ever senate-confirmed person in her role after an already-storied career led her to complete her PhD in MS&E. She leads a multi-team division at the Pentagon focused on several critical areas in economic and national security policy including the Defense Production Act, foreign investments in manufacturing and the defense industrial base, small business programs and innovation ecosystem, supply chain management, fielding innovative technologies, and international cooperation. Although her role is new, its idea links back to Alexander Hamilton and the economic policy debates of the early republic as well as MS&E’s origins in industrial engineering.
