Patrick O'Connell (HS2)

Chief of Naval Personnel in Washington, DC

Patrick O'Connell (HS2)

Chief of Naval Personnel in Washington, DC

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The recipient of several United States government commendations for management excellence, including the Legion of Merit, Patrick O'Connell serves as chief of naval personnel for the United States Navy. He was recruited in early 2016 to organize the transformation of business processes and technologies used to manage naval personnel. Within a year, Patrick O'Connell had engineered a plan approved by the chief of naval operations.

Over the course of his career, he has also worked extensively in the United Kingdom, including overseeing an $85-billion high-speed rail program for High Speed Rail 2 Ltd. (HS2). After leaving HS2, he oversaw a $2.25 billion UK military air traffic control modernization project on behalf of Aquila Air Traffic Management Services, Ltd.

Patrick O'Connell is a certified Project Management Professional and has also earned certification as Major Program Manager Level III from the U.S. Government Defense Acquisition University. He holds a master’s in operations research and systems analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School and a doctor of philosophy in computer science from The George Washington University.

For 15 years, Patrick O'Connell was an adjunct professor of major program management and software engineering at GWU. He is a lecturer with the United Kingdom Government’s Major Projects Leadership Academy and the Oxford University Said Business School, where he created a master’s program in major program management.