Patrick M. Shanahan

Patrick M. Shanahan is an American businessman and government official who is the incumbent Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Donald Trump administration.

Education
A native of Washington state, Shanahan attended the University of Washington where he earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in mechanical engineering. He also holds a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Career
Shanahan joined Boeing in 1986, becoming involved in Computer Services and the Boeing 777 program. Over the course of his career, he held management roles with respect to the Boeing Missile Defense Systems, as well as 737, 747, 767, 777 and 787 commercial airline programs. He also played a key role spearheading the recovery of Boeing's 787 program, and has been known there as "Mr. Fix-it" from as early as 2008.

Shanahan served Boeing Commercial Airplanes as vice president and general manager of the Boeing 757 program, with responsibility for the design, production and profitability of the 787 family of planes. He also held leadership positions on the Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 programs and in the fabrication division.

Shanahan then served as vice president and general manager for Boeing Rotorcraft Systems in Philadelphia. He was responsible for all U.S. Army Aviation programs and site activities in Philadelphia and Mesa, Arizona. Programs at these facilities included the V-22 Osprey, CH-47 Chinook and the AH-64D Apache.

Shanahan served as vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems, starting in December 2004 overseeing the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, Airborne Laser and Advanced Tactical Laser programs. He served as vice president and general manager of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner program, where he led the program during a critical period of the aircraft's development from 2007 to 2008. He next served as senior vice president of Airplane Programs at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, beginning in December 2008.

In April 2016, he became senior vice president, Supply Chain & Operations for Boeing. His responsibilities in that position included manufacturing operations and supplier management functions, notably carrying out advanced manufacturing technologies and global supply chain strategies.

Shanahan was a member of the Boeing Executive Council.

Deputy Secretary of Defense
On March 16, 2017, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Shanahan for Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon's second-highest civilian position. Building upon Trump's proposed Pentagon budget, which includes the biggest military spending increase in years, Shanahan was nominated to spearhead the plans to increase the size of the military.

Shanahan's Senate confirmation hearing took place on June 20, 2017. During the hearing, Senator John McCain, a proponent of giving lethal weapons to Ukraine, threatened to block Shanahan's nomination over his response in a written statement about whether or not the U.S. should provide such weapons to Ukraine. Shanahan said he did not have access to classified military information in order to make a decision on the matter.

Captain Jeff Davis, a spokesman at the Pentagon, stated that Bob Work, the current Deputy Secretary of Defense appointed by President Obama, would remain in the position until Shanahan's confirmation. Shanahan was confirmed by the United States Senate with a vote of 92-7 on July 18, 2017 and became the 33rd Deputy Secretary of Defense on July 19, 2017. His direct superior is United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

Current positions

 * Fellow, Royal Aeronautical Society
 * Fellow, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 2004
 * Associate Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Former positions

 * Secretary and Treasurer, American Helicopter Society International Board of Directors
 * Chair of Board of Regents at University of Washington
 * Regent, University of Washington 2012-2017
 * Board of directors, American Parkinson Disease Association
 * Member, Washington Roundtable