The Honorable Dr. Ravi I. Chaudhary is senior national security leader, pilot, engineer, and AANHPI advocate. He most recently served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations, and Environment, the first AANHPI to serve in this role. As Assistant secretary, he presided over a $15 billion defense portfolio, and executed policies, programs, and budgets to meet Air Force energy, installations, and environmental objectives. Before his confirmation, he served as the acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy. Prior to this role, he served at the Federal Aviation Administration as the Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space Transportation, and Executive Director for Regions and Center Operations.
Dr. Chaudhary was a staunch advocate for AANHPIs during the Obama Administration from 2014 – 2017, while serving on the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In this role, he supported advancement of key policy issues for AANHPI military members, veterans, and their families.
Dr. Chaudhary commissioned in the Air Force in 1993 upon graduation from the United States Air Force Academy. He completed 21 years of service in a variety of command, flying, engineering, and senior staff assignments in the Air Force. As a C-17 pilot, he conducted global flight operations, including numerous combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a ground deployment as Director of the Personnel Recovery Center, Multi-National Corps, Iraq. Earlier in his career, he supported space launch operations for the Global Positioning System and led third stage activities to ensure full-operational capability of the first GPS constellation. Dr. Chaudhary has published numerous articles in future strategy, aircraft design, business transformation and advocacy articles for the AANHPI community. Ravi holds a Doctorate from Georgetown University, two Masters Degrees, and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Air Force Academy.
