John S. Thackrah was

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisitions) in 2007–2008.

Biography

Thackrah attended the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

, where he received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

and

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

. He received an

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

. In 1979, Thackrah joined

United Technologies Corporation United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational corporation, multinational list of conglomerates, conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous are ...

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially ...

Division, where he worked in project and test engineering. He later worked in program management and model management and commercial flight test activities. He then became president of a Pratt & Whitney

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

. Thackrah later went on to serve in a series of executive positions, culminating in vice president of commercial products. He then became vice president of UTC's

Otis Elevator Company Otis Worldwide Corporation (trade name, branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) styled as OTIS is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment. ...

division, later returning to Pratt & Whitney as vice president of aftermarket services, and later serving as vice president and general manager of one of its

strategic business units A strategic business unit (SBU) in business strategic management, is a profit center which focuses on product offering and market segment. SBUs typically have a discrete marketing plan, analysis of competition, and marketing campaign, even though ...

. On April 18, 2005, Thackrah was sworn in as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget of the

United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DON) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary of War James McHenr ...

. In this capacity, he was responsible for all of the department's administrative matters, annual budget preparation, and human resource management, and served as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

for the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisitions), who was John J. Young Jr. followed by

Delores M. Etter Delores Maria Etter (née Van Camp; September 25, 1947, in Denver, Colorado) is a former United States Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology from 1998 to 2001 and former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for research, scien ...

. In 2007,

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

nominated Thackrah as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisitions) and he subsequently held this office from November 16, 2007, until July 27, 2008. In that capacity, he was responsible for $50 billion annually of research, development and acquisition activities, and the management of over 100,000 people. On December 8, 2008, he became Principal Deputy of the Navy's Strategic Systems Programs. On April 4, 2017, Thackrah returned to Pratt & Whitney as vice president of Washington operations.

References

Biography at the United States Navy website

Strategic Systems Programs profile of Thackrah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thackrah, John United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy Living people University of Delaware alumni Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni George W. Bush administration personnel Year of birth missing (living people)