Cara L. Abercrombie
Cara L. Abercrombie | |
|---|---|
| Education | Dartmouth College (BA), Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (MPA) |
| Occupation | Defense official |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Known for | Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition |
Cara L. Abercrombie is an American official in the defense sector who held the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition during the Biden administration.
Education
Abercrombie obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Dartmouth College and later completed a Master of Public Administration at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.
Career
Her career commenced as a program analyst at the National Democratic Institute, where she monitored elections in countries such as Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Macedonia. Following her studies at Princeton, she entered the Presidential Management Fellows Program and began working at the Department of Defense in 2003. Throughout her tenure, she held multiple roles including Principal Director for East Asia Policy, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, Director for South Asia, Advisor on Human Capital Strategy to the Under Secretary for Policy, Coordinator for Defense Institution Building, Senior Country Director for India, and from 2016 to 2017, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia.
In 2017, Abercrombie served as a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Upon returning to the Defense Department, she assumed the role of Principal Director for Security Cooperation Workforce Development. In September 2019, she was appointed as the inaugural president of the Defense Security Cooperation University. In 2021, she was assigned to the National Security Council as senior director for defense and most recently functioned as deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for defense policy and arms control.
Biden administration
Abercrombie received her nomination for the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition in April 2023 and was confirmed by the Senate on February 27, 2024. She officially commenced her duties on March 5, 2024.