Rear Admiral Deborah Loewer ’76, having completed 31 years of honorable service with the U.S. Navy and four years of public service with the federal government, currently serves as a volunteer advocate for senior citizens with the Arlington County Human Services Division in Arlington, Virginia. During her most recent years in public service, she served as a senior advisor to the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, the chief intelligence officer at the Department of Homeland Security, and as a program manager for the U.S. Army’s Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Program.
During her military career, she served at the White House for the president as the director of the Situation Room and the director of Systems and Technical Planning Staff, worked on the immediate front office staff of two secretaries of defense, and also worked directly for the president’s national security advisor.
Loewer also spent more than 13 years working onboard Navy ships, finding herself among the vanguard of women serving in a combat role for our nation’s military. She commanded two ships and was, in 2001, selected as the “first” warfare qualified woman to the rank of Rear Admiral in U.S. military history. Following her promotion, she commanded all of the U.S. Navy’s mine warfare assets in Korea and the Persian Gulf.
Immediately following her retirement from the U.S. Navy, she worked in the private sector as vice president for homeland security at Advanced Acoustic Concepts, a high-technology small business. In this capacity, Loewer directed the company’s multi-million dollar effort to use successfully demonstrated dual-use passive acoustic technologies in the protection of our nation’s coastlines and ports. Loewer then returned to service at the Department of Homeland Security.
In addition to her time at Wright State, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics, Loewer is a graduate of the Kenan-Flagger Executive Business Course at the University of North Carolina and the Executive Leadership Program at the Center for Creative Leadership, earning degrees in theoretical mathematics and computer science. She is a published author on the issue of women’s leadership, and a frequent speaker on topics including U.S. foreign policy and crisis leadership.
