Michelle Howard - International Business Independent Director

Adm. Michelle J. Howard is an Independent Director of the company. She is a retired United States Navy officer. Admiral Howard began serving in the United States Navy in 1982, after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy. During her 35 years of service, she led sailors and marines as, at various times, the Commander of a ship, an Expeditionary Strike Group, a Task Force, and a Naval theater. In 1999, she became the first African American woman to command a ship in the United States Navy. In 2014, she was the first woman to become a fourstar admiral in the U.S. Navy and the first woman and African American to be appointed to the position of Vice Chief of Naval Operations, the secondhighest ranking uniformed officer in the branch. Responsible for the Navys daytoday operations, she focused on cyber culture and information security in the digital age, as well as gender integration. In 2016, Admiral Howard was appointed by the President to serve as commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and Africa and the Allied Joint Forces Command in Naples, Italy, making her the first woman fourstar admiral to command operational forces. She retired from the Navy in 2017. Admiral Howards distinguished career in national defense has included both atsea and ashore posts, placing her in key leadership positions within the areas of engineering, operations, and strategic planning, and policy. Admiral Howard is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. She is currently the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, where she teaches in the areas of cybersecurity and international policy. since 2019.