The Honorable John Phelan is the 79th Secretary of the Navy. As Secretary, Phelan oversees the well-being, readiness and development of nearly one million Sailors, Marines, reservists and civilian personnel in the Department of the Navy. Prior to his appointment, Secretary Phelan was the Founder and Chairman of Rugger Management, LLC, a private investment firm.

He was previously Managing Partner and Co-Founder of MSD Capital, LP, the private investment firm for Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies.

John served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Third Option Foundation, on the board of Spirit of America, and the Aspen Art Museum. He is a member of Business Executives for National Security and serves on the Board of Dean’s Advisors for the Harvard Business School and the North American Advisory Board for the London School of Economics.

He received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics and Political Science from SMU. He holds a General Course degree with an emphasis in Economics and International Relations from the London School of Economics.