Dr Katherine McGrady doesn't wear a uniform, but she's directly involved with military affairs through her job at the CNA Corp (CNAC, Alexandria, VA). As senior VP for research in the office of the company's president and CEO, she's directing work that influences public policy for national defense, education, healthcare and many other issues.
She also works with the company CEO to plan corporate research directions and improve research infrastructure. McGrady is "a proponent of maintaining our research strength to sustain quality in a world that relies more and more on politics over science," she says.
CNAC is a nonprofit company that provides empirical, objective research to public-sector organizations. Following a major reorganization in the early 1990s, the company has expanded its reach, moving beyond defense to other issues of national interest like education, healthcare, human capital and air traffic management.
Leading from conviction
McGrady's own research as a junior analyst at CNAC focused on national security. Working closely with the U.S. Marine Corps exposed McGrady to some of the best examples of leadership. "Many of the military leaders I really admire led from conviction and from the heart. That helped shape my own leadership style," she says.
McGrady grew up in a family steeped in science. Her grandfather taught chemistry at MIT and
her grandmother was a chemist. McGrady's mother championed her daughter's scientific interests.
Considering her own ten-year-old daughter, McGrady believes she sees the family inclination toward science showing up in still another generation.
Applying the principles
McGrady went to Smith College (Northampton, MA) where she completed a BA in chemistry in 1982. She went on to a 1987 PhD in macromolecular science and engineering at the University of Michigan.
Her research took her into polymers and biopolymers, specialized areas that required her to investigate other areas of biochemistry and biophysics.
"I didn't think of myself as 'just' a chemist," she says. "I saw myself as someone who applied scientific principles to get the data and try to understand what's happening."
It's turned out that her advanced degrees are not specifically related to her career. But what she learned about applying her analytical ability and scientific knowledge to solving problems is priceless, and exactly what CNAC wants to offer through its research.
"We look for people who are able to deal with problems and use scientific principles to solve them," she says.
Going with the military
When McGrady was ready for the job market in 1988, women qualified in chemistry were being eagerly recruited by the chemical industry. But that work seemed less attractive to her than what CNAC was doing to solve military problems. She signed on there as an analyst.
"The military is a group of people who are very easy to get committed to," she says. "When they have to go to war, you realize that you want to go with them.
"When I told my husband I was going to deploy, he said he would, too, if he were me," she recalls. "He's very supportive."
Posted to the Persian Gulf
She was posted to the Persian Gulf in 1990 as a CNAC field rep to Desert Shield and Desert Storm. One of her assignments was to help figure out why a plan designed to supply ammunition to the front lines wasn't working. When it turned out the troops were moving faster than expected, she was right there to revise the plan and make it work.
Back home, she worked with the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, CA on issues like operational logistics, information flow in the command center and joint taskforce ops.
Somalia and back
In 1992 McGrady went to Mogadishu, Somalia as an on-site analyst. She
examined issues like successes and failures of the joint taskforce and
effectiveness of humanitarian assistance operations.
She returned to take up work as a scientific analyst for the deputy chief of staff for plans, policies and operations at U.S. Marine Corps HQ. She worked on policies for force structure requirements and tabulated Marine Corps deployments.
In 1994 she became director of the fleet-level operations analysis team, which examined issues of concern to forward-deployed Navy and Marine Corps units. Her projects were taking on increasing complexity.
Advancing in leadership
In 1996 McGrady was selected by CNAC's CEO as the first employee to participate in the Leadership Foundation Fellows program of the International Women's Forum. The women Fellows are a select group. During their year-long tenure they meet every other month to mentor and be mentored, and to learn about leadership and management.
A teacher she met at the program encouraged McGrady to move beyond advising to directing programs. That emboldened McGrady to bring up the matter with her CEO, and the next year she got a new job. As director of the Marine Corps program at CNA, she oversaw all company research in the area and developed the yearly program, working with the highest levels of the Corps.
"If I hadn't taken my mentor's advice and spoken up, I might not even have been on the list for the job," she says. "I understand now that you have to put your name in the hopper whether you think you have a chance or not. If you don't, the person making the decision won't know that's what you really want."
After that promotions came fast. In 2000 McGrady became VP and director of the integrated systems and operations division, while continuing to direct the Marine Corps program. She worked at the interface between the Navy and the Marine Corps.
McGrady's organization was absorbed into other CNA divisions in 2004. That was when she took up her current duties as senior VP for research.
Dual satisfaction
Her job brings her dual satisfaction. Her work in the field has cemented her deep feelings for the military services. But research gratifies the scientific curiosity that motivated her to get her PhD in chemistry.
"Your heartfelt commitment to the troops makes you want to go and help them out," she says. "Then your curiosity gene kicks in.
"Research is an opportunity to understand how to actually make things happen. How could I miss out on that?"
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