Mary Beth Long

Mary Beth Long ( born August 20, 1963) is an American foreign policy expert, entrepreneur, and former U.S. Government official. From 2007 to 2009, Long served as the first woman confirmed by the U.S. Senate as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and as such, was the first female civilian four-star military equivalent in the history of the Pentagon. She led the International Security Affairs (ISA) office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense responsible for policy for the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. She was also the first woman ever to be appointed as Chair of NATO's High Level Group (HLG), the highest-level responsible for NATO's nuclear policy and reporting directly to the Secretary General of NATO.

In 2016, the media identified Long as Secretary of Defense James Mattis' first choice for the position as Undersecretary of Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Long, who signed an open letter concerning President Trump's candidacy, did not receive the appointment despite disavowing the open letter during a November 2016 interview claiming Trump's foreign policy had become more "nuanced".

Beginning Academic Year 2021, Long was appointed as a professor of practice at the [https://sia.psu.edu Penn State School of International Affairs] (SIA) teaching graduate courses on National Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Globalization.

Long is the owner of law firm MB Long & Associates PLLC, which specializes in export compliance and defense. She is the Founder and Principal of Global Alliance Advisors and owner of Askari Defense and Intelligence, LLC. She founded her first defense company, Metis Solutions LLC, in 2010 and sold it to private equity in 2016, retaining a minority share. The company was again sold to PAE in 2020. Provided by Wikipedia