Matthew Donovan, undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force, will serve as the service’s interim secretary, effective June 1, the Department of Defense said in a news release published Wednesday. He will assume the responsibilities of Air Force Secretary and 2019 Wash100 winner Heather Wilson, who will step down from her post to join the University of Texas at El Paso as president.
Donovan is a retired Air Force colonel who assumed the undersecretary role in August 2017. He previously served as majority policy director for the Senate Armed Services Committee and logged over 2,900 flight hours aboard F-15C Eagle and F-5E Tiger II fighter jets during his career as a command pilot.