CSIS Names Dr. Jerry McGinn as Director of Center for the Industrial Base

CSIS Names Dr. Jerry McGinn as Director of Center for the Industrial Base

Photo: CSIS

Press Release - July 21, 2025

WASHINGTON, DC - July 21, 2025 - The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) today announced that Dr. John (Jerry) G. McGinn has been named inaugural director of the new Center for the Industrial Base (CIB), formerly known as the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group. Under Dr. McGinn's leadership, CIB will expand CSIS's renowned work on the defense industrial base and focus on such issues as defense and federal industrial base challenges, government contracting trends, industry-government collaboration, and international industrial collaboration. CIB will reside within CSIS's Defense and Security Department.

"Jerry is one of the nation's top experts at a time when the industrial base is among the most pressing issues for the United States," said Dr. Seth G. Jones, president of the Defense and Security Department. "Jerry has published numerous influential reports and white papers on industrial base issues, and he brings to CSIS an exceptional background that has spanned the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), industry, and academia."

Dr. McGinn's appointment comes at a pivotal moment, as U.S. defense industrial base issues intersect with every relevant challenge in warfare and deterrence-from the growing threat of conflict in the Indo-Pacific and a contested logistics environment to the reemergent focus on conflict in the Middle East and the trade-off of exquisite versus easily reproducible systems. To meet these challenges, CIB will lead cross-cutting analysis in collaboration with research programs across CSIS's four departments.

"I am absolutely thrilled to be joining CSIS at this critical time," said Dr. McGinn. "I look forward to working closely with my colleagues and our government and industry partners to address the significant industrial base challenges facing our nation and our allies today."

Prior to CSIS, Dr. McGinn established and led the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, serving as its executive director since 2018. At GMU, he oversaw the publication of over 80 reports, white papers, and commentaries on government contracting, international cooperation, budget reform, and intellectual property. Before his time at GMU, Dr. McGinn served in DoD as principal deputy director in the Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy. This role, which spanned multiple administrations, included leading efforts to analyze the capabilities and overall health of the defense industrial base. Dr. McGinn also served as a special assistant to the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy and conducted research at RAND as a political scientist.

In the private sector, Dr. McGinn has held senior defense industry roles at Northrop Grumman, Deloitte Consulting LLP, QinetiQ North America, and Software AG Government Solutions.

Dr. McGinn is also a widely published thought leader and has testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress and the UK House of Commons. Dr. McGinn served with distinction as an infantry officer and is a graduate of the Ranger and Airborne Schools. He earned a PhD, MS, and MA from Georgetown University as well as a BS from the United States Military Academy.

Visit here to learn more about the new Center for the Industrial Base at CSIS.

For media inquiries, please contact Sofia Chavez (schavez@csis.org).