With artificial intelligence, quantum computing and autonomy, we are at a technology inflection point--one that will transform so many aspects of our lives, including the way we go to war. In a world fraught with geopolitical risks, the U.S. military is in a race to adapt and adopt new technologies. In this conversation, recorded live at our NOW conference in Austin, Brown Advisory's Brett Gibson sat down with The Honorable Christine Fox and Dr. Casey Perley--ideal guides to explore defense tech innovation and the path to a safer world.

 

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Guests

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The Honorable Christine Fox

Senior Fellow, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

The Honorable Christine H. Fox is a director of Brown Advisory Incorporated. She is a Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Prior to her appointment as a Senior Fellow, Ms. Fox served as the Assistant Director for Policy and Analysis at JHU/APL from May 2014 until January 2022. As the nation’s largest University Affiliated Research Center, APL performs research and development on behalf of the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other federal agencies. The Laboratory has more than 8,000 staff members who are making critical contributions to a wide variety of nationally and globally significant technical and scientific challenges. Previously, she served as Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense between December 2013 and May 2014 and, prior to that, Ms. Fox served as the Director, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation from 2009 to 2013. In that position, she was the principal civilian advisor to the Secretary of Defense for analyzing and evaluating plans, programs, and budgets in relation to U.S. defense objectives and resource constraints. Prior to her government service, Ms. Fox served as the President of the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), a Federally Funded Research and Development Center and as the scientific analyst to the Chief of Naval Operations. During her 28-year career at CNA, Ms. Fox oversaw analysis of real-world operations, from the first Gulf War and the operations in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, to the operations in Afghanistan immediately following the September 11th attacks, and the operation in Iraq in early 2003. From 2003-2005, Ms. Fox served as a member of NASA’s Return to Flight Task Group, chartered by the NASA Administrator to certify the recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Currently, Ms. Fox serves on the governing committee for the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences for the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She also serves on the oversight board for the U.S. Naval Institute and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Ms. Fox earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and a Master of Science degree in applied mathematics from George Mason University. She is a three-time recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal. She has also received the Department of the Army’s Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service, the Naval Heritage Award and an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins University (Doctorate of Humane Letters).  

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Casey Perley, Ph.D.

Director, Army Applications Laboratory

As Army Applications Laboratory's executive director, Dr. Casey Perley leads the mission to reshape how the Army works with industry to provide the best tech in the world to the best Army in the world. Her vision is for AAL to work from problem inception to sustainment hand in glove with stakeholders across the Army and the Department of Defense to accelerate and assess the Army's ability to ingest innovation. Casey knows AAL better than anyone, having served most recently as the deputy director and before that as the first director of Insights and Analysis, where our scientists and entrepreneurs collaborate to bring the best companies and technologies into solving Army problems. Prior to AAL, Casey was a postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), where she managed research projects across a range of topics and stakeholders. She designed DNA vaccines and worked in the lab with bio threats including Ebola. Casey holds a PhD in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology from Duke University and a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale. Casey's orchestral harp work can be heard on more than 120 recordings, one of which was nominated for two Grammy awards. 

 

Moderator

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Brett Gibson

Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Private Client, Endowments and Foundations, Brown Advisory

Brett is a partner, a member of the Executive Team and serves as chief operating officer of U.S. private client, endowments and foundations. Previously, he was managing partner and co-founder of NextGen Venture Partners (acq. by Brown Advisory Q1 2018). Prior to joining the firm, he was in Corporate Development at LivingSocial, and at The Carlyle Group, specializing in investments and acquisitions. .  

 

 

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