John M. Richardson

Adm. Richardson has a long career of service with the U.S. Navy, including in the attack submarine division on the Chief of Naval Operations staff, as naval aide to the president, and as director of Strategy and Policy at U.S. Joint Forces Command, among other positions. He also evaluated and taught prospective submarine commanding officers who would be responsible for the lives of their shipmates in extreme environments. He completed his naval career as the director of Naval Reactors and then as the 31st chief of Naval Operations.

Richardson contributed to teams that have been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and other awards for outstanding team performance. He was awarded the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for his time in command of USS Honolulu.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Richardson holds a Bachelor of Science in physics. He holds master's degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and national security strategy from the National War College.