Heather M. Shirey
Department of Defense
2021 fellow
Ms. Shirey is an accomplished engineer, scientist, and technical advisor who spearheads innovative efforts to solve problems. Most recently, she led the Army’s Advanced Manufacturing Initiative. Ms. Shirey worked with stakeholders from across the Army to create and implement an Army-wide directive to enable two of the Army’s top priorities—modernization and readiness. This cutting-edge work is not new. Ms. Shirey has 14 years’ experience working on joint programs to develop and field critical chemical and biological defense systems to Warfighters. During this time, she regularly worked with international partners. She served as the technical lead on the President’s Defense Technology and Trade Initiative, Next Generation Protective Ensemble with India, and with international partners on the Protect Working Group, both of which improved US and partner countries’ chemical and biological defense capabilities.
Her accolades include the Commander’s Award for outstanding service in support of the Ebola outbreak response and the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal for leading the Army’s advanced manufacturing policy team.
Ms. Shirey has a B.S. in chemistry from Chatham University, a M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and a M.B.A. from Trinity Washington University.
In her new role, Ms. Shirey will use data visualizations and associated analysis to provide leaders insight into the relationship between federal employee engagement and external customer experience. Ms. Shirey’s ultimate goal is to increase public trust in government.
