Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced March 8 that she has submitted her resignation, effective May 31, to become the University of Texas El Paso’s next president, pending final approval.
“Upon a favorable final vote by the [University of Texas] Regents, I will resign my position as Secretary of the Air Force,” Wilson said in a Friday statement. She would become university president Sept. 1. “This should allow sufficient time for a smooth transition and ensure effective advocacy during upcoming Congressional hearings,” she added.
Air Force Undersecretary Matt Donovan is expected to lead the service in an acting capacity after Wilson’s departure until a successor is found, said one Pentagon official Friday.
Wilson became Air Force secretary May 16, 2017. She previously served as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology from 2013 to 2017; before that she served as a Republican U.S. representative from New Mexico from 1998 to 2009. She served in the Air Force from 1982 to 1989, holding negotiator and political adviser roles, and was a defense planning officer to NATO.
She helped to spearhead various acquisition efforts in the service during her two years as secretary, and encouraged greater experimentation such as the light attack off-the-shelf aircraft effort. During her tenure, the Air Force established new rapid development offices such as Program Executive Office Digital and the “Kessel Run” experimentation laboratory at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, and the “AFWERX” office outside Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, to facilitate better interactions with non-traditional businesses looking to work with the Air Force.
