CNA Names Paul E. Speer President of the Center for Naval Analyses

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — CNA announced today that Dr. Paul E. Speer, formerly vice president and director of Research for CNA's Institute for Public Research (IPR), will become the president of CNA's Center for Naval Analyses on October 18, 2009.

Reporting to CNA President and Chief Executive Officer Robert J. Murray, Speer is responsible for the federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps that provides research and analysis services across the Defense Department. As president, Speer serves as the scientific analyst to the Chief of Naval Operations. He is replacing Ms. Christine H. Fox, who has been nominated to be the director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation for the Department of Defense.

"Paul inherits from Christine an FFRDC that is performing at a very high level of excellence," Murray said. "I know that under Paul's leadership, the Center for Naval Analyses will continue to serve the pressing analytic needs of the Navy, Marine Corps and other DoD agencies, and support their senior leadership in ways to which they've become accustomed."

During his 25 years at CNA, Speer has worked on a wide range of issues for the Navy and served as the CNA Scientific Analyst for the Director, Navy Programming Division (N80) in the Pentagon. Speer also studied the Navy and DoD's environmental cleanup initiatives and during this time, developed CNA's first program of research on environmental issues. His field assignment was with Submarine Development Squadron 12 in New London, CT.

Speer also pioneered new research programs in public safety, emergency public health, and homeland security for IPR.

Speer earned a PhD in Oceanography from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA; and a bachelor's degree in Geology and Geophysics from Williams College, Williamstown, MA