Member, Board of Regents and Senior Fellow, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

Brian Shirley is a senior executive and advisor with over 34 years of broad-based experience in the semiconductor industry, including fourteen years as an executive officer of Micron Technology, a US-based Fortune 500 leader in semiconductor memory.  He has been a senior consultant to the US government on topics related to the semiconductor industry and US national security. He is listed as an inventor on 82 US patents and helped drive Micron’s expansion into specialized memory for servers, and mobile and networking solutions. At Micron, he drove DRAM diversification, product expansions in NAND solid-state memory and related SSD product lines, and productization of multiple emerging memory technologies. He has served on the boards of numerous joint ventures and industry organizations. Mr. Shirley retired from Micron in December 2019. In 2020, Mr. Shirley joined CTC Aero consulting with multiple departments of the US government. In addition, he is serving as a senior advisor and board member to multiple semiconductor startups, as well as serving as a member of the Board of Regents and Senior Fellow of the Potomac Institute.

Senior Fellow, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

Tim Welter conceived and led the Potomac Institute’s Global Competition Project (GCP). Having worked in the private sector, the military, and on Capitol Hill, Tim Welter brings valuable experience in national security and defense policy to the Institute. After serving on active duty in the Air Force for several years, he worked on Capitol Hill as Legislative Director for two different Members of Congress and later as a Professional Staff Member with the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Upon leaving the Hill, Tim worked with the foreign and defense policy research team at the American Enterprise Institute. He later completed a research fellowship at the National War College during which he finished his PhD dissertation in Political Science with the University of Missouri, writing about the political nature of defense policy in Congress. A US Air Force Academy graduate, Tim holds Master’s degrees in political science, national security strategy, and management. Just prior to joining the Institute, Tim served at the Pentagon where he helped stand up an organization dedicated to future force design and the development of capabilities and concepts required to meet emerging national security challenges.