Meredith Ashley Berger is an American government official who is serving as the United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations, and Environment; a position she has held since August 5, 2021. From August 25, 2021, until April 14, 2022, she concurrently served as the designated official Performing the Duties of the

United States Under Secretary of the Navy The Under Secretary of the Navy is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Navy. The Under Secretary, called the "Under" in The Pentagon, Pentagon slang, reports to the United States Secretary of the Na ...

Education

Berger holds a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in American Studies and Spanish from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

; a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU or, informally, Nova) is a private nonprofit research university with its main campus in Davie, Florida. The university consists of 14 total colleges, centers, and schools offering over 150 programs of study. ...

; and a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

from the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

."President Biden Announces Key Administration Nominations in National Security", White House, April 27, 2021
"Mitchell W. Berger"

Public service career

Berger began her career in public service at the state of Florida Chief Financial Officer's office where she developed and executed state policies on climate, insurance, risk, energy, public finance, and housing. She previously served for two years at the Pentagon as a Defense Fellow, providing support to key offices in the Department of Defense. She joined the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

in 2011, serving as the policy advisor at the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

where she worked on the Presidential Task Force focused on the long-term recovery of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

and surrounding areas following the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...

. She then served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the

United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary o ...

during the Obama administration, where she advised the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

on the formulation, prioritization, and execution of Department-wide strategy, policies, plans, and standards.

Professional career

She worked at

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

with the Defending Democracy Program where she works to protect democratic processes, people, and institutions from cyber-enabled interference while advancing norms of responsible behavior in cyberspace. She has been a non-resident Fellow at the

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located within the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, in the United States. From 2017 until his death in Oc ...

at the

Assistant Secretary of the Navy

On April 23, 2021, President Joe Biden announced Berger as his nominee to be the United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment. On April 28, 2021, her nomination was sent to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. On July 22, 2021, Berger was confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a prop ...

as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment. She was sworn into office on August 5, 2021.

Awards and recognition

Berger is the recipient of the Secretary of the

Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award {{infobox military award , name = , image = DON Distinguished Civilian Service.png , image_size = 100px , caption = Department of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Medal , presenter = Departm ...

, the

Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service The Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service is the second highest award presented by the Secretary of Defense to non-career Federal employees, private citizens, and foreign nationals for contributions, assistance, or support to D ...

, and the Environmental Protection Agency Gold Medal for Exceptional Service. She is the sponsor of the USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28).

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Meredith 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers Biden administration personnel Florida lawyers Harvard Kennedy School alumni Harvard Kennedy School people Living people Nova Southeastern University alumni People of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Place of birth missing (living people) United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy United States Department of Defense officials Vanderbilt University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)