President Donald Trump announced May 21 that he is nominating Barbara Barrett to become the next Air Force secretary, as current Secretary Heather Wilson completes her final weeks on the job.
“I am pleased to announce my nomination of Barbara Barrett of Arizona, and former Chairman of the Aerospace Corporation, to be the next Secretary of the Air Force. She will be an outstanding Secretary!” Trump tweeted Tuesday evening.
Barrett served as chair of the Aerospace Corporation from 2013 to 2017. She was originally elected to the board in 2006, and served two years as the U.S. ambassador to Finland from 2008 to 2010, when she was re-elected to the board.
She has also served as deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and vice chairman of the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board. She served on the governing boards of companies and organizations including Raytheon [RTN], Piper Aircraft and the Space Foundation.
An instrument-rated pilot, she trained at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, and Kazakhstan, and received a certification for space travel. Ambassador Barrett earned bachelor’s, master’s, and law degrees at Arizona State University (ASU). Honorary doctorates have been conferred by ASU, Thunderbird, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the University of South Carolina, Pepperdine University and Finlandia University.
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced May 15 that Air Force Undersecretary Matt Donovan would serve as acting service secretary following Wilson’s departure May 31. Wilson, who became secretary in 2017, will become president of the University of Texas at El Paso beginning in September. Prior to leading the Air Force, she worked for former Sandia National Laboratory manager Sandia Corp., a Lockheed Martin subsidiary.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein hosted a farewell ceremony for Wilson Tuesday at Joint-Base Andrews, Maryland.
This story first appeared in Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.
