Navigator Awards

2001 Navigator Award Winners

Legislative Branch Awardee: Senator Jeff Bingaman - United States Senator, New Mexico

Executive Branch Awardee: Vice Admiral Paul G. Gaffney II - President, National Defense University

Private Sector Awardee: Dr. Joseph V. Braddock - Founder, BDM

Honorees

Senator Jeff Bingaman - United States Senator, New Mexico

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) has provided broad legislative leadership in technological innovation. His many achievements include helping to launch a major expansion of “dual use” (military and commercial) technologies. He also proved pivotal in the resurgence of the semiconductor industry, with which the creation of the U.S.-Japan Semiconductor Agreement was associated. These efforts resulted in billions of new dollars for American wage earners. In addition, the Senator has provided keen resourcefulness in guiding the Energy Department’s National Laboratories into a new millennium.

Senator Bingaman was raised in Silver City, New Mexico. The son of educators, he attended Silver City public schools. After graduating from Western High School in 1961, Senator Bingaman attended Harvard University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government in 1965. He then entered the Stanford University School of Law, graduating in 1968. Senator Bingaman served in the Army Reserves from 1968 to 1974. After a year as New Mexico Assistant Attorney General and nine years in private law practice, Senator Bingaman was elected Attorney General of New Mexico in 1978, and in 1982, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He is the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He is also a member of the Senate Finance Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

 

Vice Admiral Paul G. Gaffney II - President, National Defense University

Vice Admiral Paul Gaffney’s career has been devoted to inspired leadership of Naval science and technology, which has continuted in his most recent appointment as President of the National Defense University. As Chief of Naval Research and Deputy Commandant (Science and Technology)Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, from 1996 to 2000, Admiral Gaffney completely restructured Naval research through the Future Naval Capabilities process, allowing for better discoveries and for more rapid transition to the warfighter. He also successfully led the protection of vital basic national science investments. Admiral Gaffney earned many military decorations for his service, including the Distinguished Service Medal, four awards of the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star. Admiral Gaffney’s Navigator Award represents both the executive branch and academic award categories.

Admiral Gaffney became the 10th President of the National Defense University on July 7, 2000. Prior to assuming his duties at NDU, he was the Chief of Naval Research with additional duties as Director, Test and Evaluation and Technology Requirements in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and Deputy Commandant (Science and Technology), Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. His distinguished career has spanned three decades and includes duty at sea, overseas and ashore in executive and command positions.

He is a 1968 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Upon graduation, he was selected for immediate graduate education and received a master’s degree in Ocean Engineering from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He completed a year as a student and advanced research fellow at the Naval War College, graduating with highest distinction.

 

Dr. Joseph V. Braddock - Founder, BDM

Dr. Joseph Braddock provided outstanding contributions to science and technology, and has inspired change in policy that supports research. Dr. Braddock was one of three Fordham University physicists who founded BDM Corporation—a principal nuclear weapons “failure testing” company in the United States. His successes helped establish the Potomac Foundation (no relation to Potomac Institute), which has contributed significantly to NATO research. Well-regarded among professional military scientists, Dr. Braddock’s technical mastery was key to the development of a NATO strategy known as Follow-On Forces Attack or “FOFA.” He has donated considerable time to the Army and Office of the Secretary of Defense on technical forecasting and planning as a member of the Defense and Army Science Boards, and on several DARPA efforts, including one aimed at replacing anti-personnel land mines.

Dr. Joseph Braddock received his B.S. in Physics at St. Peter’s College, NJ in 1951, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from Fordham University, NY, in 1952 and 1958 respectively. He served as an instructor in Physics at Fordham University and as an Assistant Professor in Physics at Iona College, NY. In 1959, with Drs. Dunn and McDonald, he founded BDM, a technology-based professional services firm. Over the next three decades, the firm grew to 4,000 employees and became the largest publicly-owned company of its kind. In 1988, BDM was acquired by Ford Motor Company and subsequently acquired by The Carlyle Group in 1991. Dr. Braddock retired from BDM in 1993. (BDM was acquired by, and merged into TRW in 1998.) He currently serves on Advisory Boards for the Secretary of Defense, Agencies of the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army and Sandia National Laboratories. He is also a Trustee of the Potomac Foundation. Dr. Braddock served on Advisory Boards for the National Security Agency and the Defense Nuclear Agency. His service on Advisory Boards was recognized with the Secretary of Defense Eugene G. Fubini Award, the Defense Nuclear Agency’s Exceptional Public Service Award, and Distinguished Service Awards from the Army Science Board and the Association of the U.S. Army.