Mr. Durnan is the Senior Advisor to the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering. Among other duties, he leads the R&E effort to better align the Independent Research and Development (IR&D) spending with warfighter needs; he serves as the Chief of Operations for the Research Development and Acquisition Task Force, Chair of the Electronic Warfare Technology Task Force, and Co-Chair of the Quadrennial Defense Review Key Mission Area Study Integration Team. Mr. Durnan’s expertise is growing organizations as well as advising senior management in strategy development and implementation. His private sector career includes: Senior Vice President and Special Counsel to the Chairman of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, a private equity company in New York; Partner for strategic acquisitions in the information technology sector at Radius Capital Partners; Attorney at Marks Murase in New York; Chairman of Woodbury Hill Partners, and, as the Manager of a varied product line at BAE Systems North America. His government service includes: an officer in the U. S. Navy, including being a Military Assistant to the Director Net Assessment; a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense; the Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense; Deputy Director Strategy in Defense Research & Engineering; Deputy Director Joint Advanced Concepts in the Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition Technology and Logistics; and an operations research analyst on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations; Aide to the Chief of Naval Operations, and a long-time consultant to the Department of Defense.