Banquet Speaker

Aerobiology in Biodefense III is pleased to have Anna Johnson-Winegar, PhD as the speaker at Wednesday’s Banquet.

Biography

Dr. Anna Johnson-Winegar served as the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Chemical and Biological Defense Programs) from 1999 until her retirement in 2003. She acted as the single focal-point within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) responsible for oversight, coordination, and integration of the chemical/biological (CB) defense, counterproliferation support, chemical demilitarization, and Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment (ACWA) programs. She was a member of the OSD Steering Committee for Chemical-Biological Defense, and represented the Department of Defense on multiple interagency and international groups addressing CB issues. She provided Congressional testimony on numerous occasions during this time.

Immediately before joining the Pentagon staff, Dr. Johnson-Winegar was head of the Human Systems Department at the Office of Naval Research where she was responsible for the direction, program planning, management, and oversight of their programs in biomedical, cognitive and neural sciences, human factors, and training.

From 1996-1998, Dr. Johnson-Winegar served as Director of Environmental and Life Sciences in the Office of Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E). Her primary responsibilities there included monitoring and coordinating all DOD research and development in the areas of medical and life sciences, training and personnel technologies, environmental sciences, environmental quality and civil engineering, chemical and biological warfare defense, and human systems interface.

Before joining DDR&E, Dr. Johnson-Winegar served as the Director of Medical Chemical and Biological Defense Research Programs at the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick, Maryland. In that capacity, her duties included planning, programming, and managing the entire scope of research programs in medical chemical and biological defense. Her previous positions included product manager at the U. S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity, and research investigator at the U. S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. She also participated as a biological weapons inspector in Iraq for the United Nations under UNSCOM.

Dr. Johnson-Winegar received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Hood College, as well as Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Microbiology from Catholic University of America. She has published numerous technical manuscripts, and authored or co-authored several book chapters. She is a long-standing member of many professional societies, including the American Society for Microbiology, Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association for Women in Science, and Sigma Xi. She is an alumna of the Federal Executive Institute, and a graduate of various short courses in the general fields of science and technology, policy development, and management. She received Level III certification for acquisition management in systems planning, research, development, and engineering. She currently serves on the Board of the National Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society (ACS) as a past national Chair of the Board, and is a past President of both the Maryland and Mid-Atlantic Divisions of ACS. In 1998, she received the lifetime achievement award from Women in Science and Engineering. Upon her retirement from civil service, she received the Department of Defense Meritorious Service Award (with bronze palm), Presidential Rank Award as a Meritorious Executive in the Senior Executive Service, the Gold Medal from the National Defense Industrial Association, and numerous other recognitions. In 2006 she was recognized as the Distinguished Alumna from Hood College, her alma mater. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Naval Research Advisory Committee, and she currently is engaged in private consulting work for industry, academia, and government clients.