Mike White

Michael E. White is a member of the Karman Space & Defense Advisory Board. He was the inaugural Principal Director for Hypersonics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering serving from October 2018 to June 2023. In that capacity, Mr. White set the course for the Nation’s development of offensive and defensive warfighting capability enabled by hypersonic systems. He was responsible for developing the vision and strategy for the delivery of transformational warfighting capability enabled by hypersonic systems including air, land, and sea-based hypersonic strike capabilities, reusable hypersonic systems, and systems required to enable comprehensive layered defeat of adversary hypersonic capabilities. Prior to DoD, Mike spent 37 years at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab leading efforts in hypersonics, precision strike, and air and missile defense, culminating in his role as the Head of the Air and Missile Defense Sector. He earned both his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, is an AIAA Fellow, and has executive leadership training from MIT, Harvard, and the National Leadership Institute.