John McGinn, George Mason University
The George Mason School of Business has announced that John G. McGinn, PhD, has been named executive director of the George Mason Government Contracting Initiative. McGinn joins the School of Business on June 11.
As executive director, McGinn will be responsible for developing and expanding the GovCon initiative to create the first research, teaching and collaboration center in the United States where students and faculty work with key government and industry stakeholders to address issues facing the government contracting community.
To achieve this vision, McGinn will undertake fundraising in support of research, scholarships, operations and outreach. He will also work with faculty across the university to develop GovCon offerings for undergraduate and graduate programs, certificate programs and executive development.
Among other goals, the GovCon initiative aims to develop a venue for the academic development of key competencies in the government contracting space and to raise awareness of thought leadership in the field.
McGinn has a wealth of high-level experience from a long career in government, the defense industry, management consulting, policy analysis and the military.
Most recently, McGinn served in the Defense Department’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics as principal deputy director of the Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy. In that role, he was the senior career official responsible for analyzing the capabilities, overall health and policies concerning the industrial base on which the department relies for current and future war-fighting capabilities.
Previously, he was president of McGinn Defense Consulting, where he served commercial aerospace and defense clients. McGinn also led strategic contracting projects for both DOD and commercial clients at Deloitte Consulting, was vice president for strategic initiatives at QinetiQ North America and served as corporate director for international Government Relations at Northrop Grumman.
Prior to his time in industry, McGinn served in DOD, where he focused on post-conflict stabilization, reconstruction and defense transformation and was a political scientist at the RAND Corporation.
McGinn served with distinction as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army and is a graduate of Ranger and Airborne Schools.
A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, McGinn holds a PhD, MS, and MA from Georgetown University.
