Mr. Woolsey is President of the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), a position he has held since January 2014.  In that role, he is responsible for delivery of learning products through the DAU regions, the Defense Systems Management College, and the College of Contract Management; curriculum development; online learning programs; learning technology; and library services for a major Department of Defense corporate university.  DAU is strategically located within five geographical regions across the country and provides a global learning environment to develop qualified acquisition, requirements, and contingency professionals who deliver and sustain effective and affordable warfighting capabilities.

He previously served as the first Deputy Director for Performance Assessments (PA) in the office of Performance Assessments and Root Cause Analyses (PARCA).  In standing up the PA organization, he created the processes and practices that allowed it to perform its statutory responsibility of assessing the progress of all Major Defense Acquisition Programs.  The new office also made a substantial contribution to re-invigorating the Defense Acquisition Executive Summary process and provided the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics with unique analyses to give him improved visibility into the status of the MDAP portfolio. 

Mr. Woolsey was previously an Assistant Director in the Cost Analysis and Research Division of the Institute for Defense Analyses. His responsibilities included management of the division’s cost analysis and research, and leadership of a wide range of cost and acquisition studies.  His work included a congressionally-directed cost benefit analysis of the F-35 alternate engine, an evaluation of KC 767A lease prices, C-5 re-engineering costs and benefits, F-22 production readiness, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile costs, and space launch alternatives. Mr. Woolsey also served on a Defense Science Board Task Force on long-range strike.

Mr. Woolsey’s other previous positions include service as a structures engineer for F/A-18 aircraft at Naval Air Systems Command, and work as an engineer for Lockheed Martin airlift programs in Marietta, GA. 

Mr. Woolsey has a bachelor of science in aerospace engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, a master’s in business administration from George Mason University and was a Fellow in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI on International Relations.