Keith Englander

Mr. Keith L. Englander assumed the duties as Director for Engineering, Missile Defense Agency on January 9, 2006. In this capacity he serves as the Agency's Single Technical Authority. This includes responsibility for system and element engineering; generation of system and element test requirements; development of the system level modeling and simulation efforts; development of technical intelligence information; lead for failure review boards and conduct of independent technical assessments. A member of the Senior Executive Service, Mr. Englander earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1975 and a Masters degree in Public Administration in 1996. He is also a 1991 graduate of the Defense Systems Management College. Mr Englander's career began with the Department of the Navy in 1975 where he was responsible for the design and development of propellant devices for rocket motors. He later served as Chief Engineer for the Navy A-6 attack aircraft. Mr. Englander left NAVAIR in 1992 to head the System Engineering and Integration Directorate for Brilliant Pebbles at the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO). When SDIO transitioned to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO), he was assigned the positions of System Engineering Director followed by the Deputy for Integration, and subsequently promoted to the Technical Director, all within the National Missile Defense (NMD) Program Office. As BMDO transitioned to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), he assumed the duties for the MDA Deputy for System Engineering and Integration where he defined the BMD system and its capability. He later assumed the duties of the MDA Technical Director in 2005. His awards include three Presidential Rank Awards, the American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics (AIAA) David R. Israel Award for Meritorious Achievement for International Ballistic Missile Defense and the Secretary of Defense’s Exceptional Civilian Service Award. He was inducted into the Virginia Tech College of Engineering Academy of Excellence (April 2016) and the Virginia Tech Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Department Academy of Excellence (October 2016). He is currently on the Advisory Board for Space at Virginia Tech