Michèle Flournoy Michèle Angelique Flournoy ( born December 14 , 1960 ) is the former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy of the United States . She was confirmed in the position by the U . S . Senate on February 9 , 2009 and was at the time the highest - ranking woman to hold a post at the Pentagon in the facility ' s history . Flournoy founded and was named President of the Center for a New American Security ( CNAS ) in 2007 . Prior to co - founding CNAS with Kurt Campbell , she was a Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies , where she worked on a broad range of defense policy and international security issues . Previously , Flournoy was a distinguished research professor at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University ( NDU ) , where she founded and led the university ’ s Quadrennial Defense Review ( QDR ) working group , which was chartered by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop intellectual capital in preparation for the Department of Defense ’ s 2001 QDR . On December 12 , 2011 , Flournoy announced that she would step down in February 2012 to return to private life and contribute to President Barack Obama ' s re - election bid . Government service . Prior to joining NDU , Flournoy served as a senior - level political appointee in the Department of Defense during the Presidency of Bill Clinton , working at the Pentagon where she occupied the dual roles of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy . In those capacities , she oversaw three policy offices in the Office of the United States Secretary of Defense : Strategy ; Requirements , Plans , and Counterproliferation ; and Russia , Ukraine , and Eurasian Affairs . Flournoy was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 1996 , the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1998 , and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ’ s Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 2000 . Following the November 2008 presidential election , she was selected as one of the Department of Defense Review Team Leads for the Obama transition . On 8 January 2009 , President - elect Obama announced that he was nominating Flournoy as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy , serving under Secretary of Defense Robert Gates . Personal . Flournoy holds an B . A . in social studies from Harvard University and an M . Litt . in international relations from Oxford University , where she was a Newton - Tatum scholar at Balliol College . Prior to this , she attended Beverly Hills High School . Her father , George Flournoy , died of a heart attack when she was fourteen . Flournoy is a supporter of the Democratic Party and campaign finance records show she contributed $ 500 to Senator Hillary Clinton ' s presidential campaign in June 2007 . From 1989 - 1993 she was at Harvard ' s John F . Kennedy School of Government where she was a Research Fellow in its International Security Program . According to " The New York Observer " , in an article published 14 August 2007 ( " Hot Policy Wonks for the Democrats " ) , Flournoy was then a 46 - year - old former Department of Defense official in the Clinton administration . Flournoy and CNAS co - founder Kurt Campbell wrote in an influential policy paper called " The Inheritance and the Way Forward " : " First , U . S . strategy must be grounded in a common sense pragmatism rather than ideology . U . S . national security strategy must be based on a clear - eyed assessment of the challenges and opportunities of the new security environment as well as realistic objectives derived from our national interests . " Flournoy ' s husband , W . Scott Gould , is a retired captain after twenty - six years in the United States Navy Reserve . He was a vice president at IBM before becoming United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs . The couple has three children , and resides in Bethesda , Maryland . Affiliations . Flournoy is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group , the Council on Foreign Relations , the International Institute for Strategic Studies , and the Executive Board of Women in International Security . She is a former member of the Defense Policy Board and the Defense Science Board Task Force on Transformation . She was a member of the guiding coalition of the Project on National Security Reform . Publications . In addition to several edited volumes and reports , Flournoy has authored dozens of articles on international security issues " The Inheritance and the Way Forward " , with Kurt M . Campbell ( date unknown ) " The Future of the National Guard and Reserves " , with Christine Wormuth , Clark Murdock , Patrick Henry , ( Washington , D . C . : CSIS Press , July 2006 ) " European Defense Integration : Bridging the Gap Between Strategy and Capabilities " , with Julianne Smith , Guy Ben - Ari , David Scruggs , and Kathleen McInnis , ( Washington D . C . : CSIS Press , October 2005 ) " Beyond Goldwater - Nichols : Phase II Report " , with Clark Murdock , ( Washington , D . C . : CSIS Press , July 2005 ) " Beyond Goldwater - Nichols : Defense Reform for a New Strategic Era : Phase I Report " , with Clark Murdock , Christopher Williams , and Kurt Campbell , ( Washington , D . C . : CSIS Press , March 2004 ) " Nuclear Weapons After the Cold War " ( HarperCollins College Div , August 1992 ) References . Much of this text is adapted from the DOD ' s public domain official biography