Dr. Agnes Gereben Schaefer was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 21, 2022 and was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs on December 23, 2022. As Assistant Secretary, she is responsible for the supervision of manpower, personnel and Reserve Component affairs for the Department of the Army and is the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Army for policy and performance oversight of human resources, training, readiness, mobilization, military health affairs, force structure, manpower management, equal opportunity, equal employment opportunity, marketing, and other critical matters.
Prior to confirmation, Dr. Schaefer served as a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.
Previously, Dr. Schaefer was a senior national security researcher at the RAND Corporation, which is a federally funded research and development center for the Department of Defense, where she provided nonpartisan, objective research and analysis and developed a deep understanding of the Department of Defense. Over her 17 years at RAND, Dr. Schaefer conducted more than 60 studies for the most senior civilian and military leaders across the Department of Defense on issues related to U.S. military personnel policy; reserve component issues; challenges confronting military families; national security strategy; emerging threats; homeland defense and homeland security. Dr. Schaefer also served as the Associate Director of RAND’s International Security and Defense Policy Center. Prior to joining RAND, Dr. Schaefer was a postdoctoral research associate and lecturer at Princeton University.
Dr. Schaefer earned her Ph.D. from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Florida International University.