Biography

Mary Beth Long has served as a member of our board of directors since 2023. Ms. Long served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense of International Security Affairs under Secretary of Defense Robert E. Gates. In this capacity she was the first woman confirmed to a four-star military equivalent position by the U.S. Senate. The role was the culmination of 17 years of intelligence and defense related government service where she held multiple leadership roles including Chair of NATO’s nuclear and missile defense High Level Group, Principal Deputy Secretary of Defense for Asia and Southeast Asia, and Deputy Secretary of Defense for Counter Narco-terrorism. For her exemplary service, Ms. Long received the Department of Defense’s highest civilian honors from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and separately from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen.

After returning to the private sector, Ms. Long founded two multi-million-dollar advisory firms, and most recently founded and led a highly successful government contracting firm – Metis Solutions, LLC – which sold in 2016 to private equity. She is regularly called upon to be a policy expert based on her many post-government roles including as Senior Subject Matter Expert for the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Senior Advisor to the Director of USAID at the Department of State, and as a Senior International Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Colombia. Ms. Long is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Defense and Aerospace Export Council and is a Cipher Brief Expert. She also is an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has presided over meetings regarding NATO, Ukraine, Afghanistan and other timely topics.

Ms. Long is a magna cum laude honors graduate and Phi Beta Kappa alumni from Penn State University, where she studied the Chinese language abroad in Taiwan. She received the university’s highest alumna honors in 2018 and currently serves on the university’s Provost’s Global Advisory Council. She also received her law degree with honors from Washington and Lee School of Law. Ms. Long is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Spy Museum and the Defense Intelligence Memorial Fund and is active in rescuing Afghans who supported U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.