Dr. John Montgomery, Director of Research at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), has been elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is recognized For leading the Navy's electronics-warfare technical authority, and for developing critical operational systems.
Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature, and to the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.
Dr. Montgomery joined NRL in 1968 as a research physicist in the Advanced Techniques Branch of the
Electronic Warfare Division, where he conducted research on a wide range of Electronic Warfare (EW) topics. In 1980, he was selected to head the Off-Board Countermeasures Branch. In May 1985, he was appointed to the Senior Executive Service and was selected as Superintendent of the Tactical Electronic Warfare Division. He has been responsible for numerous systems that have been developed/approved for operational use by the Navy and other services. He has had great impact through the application of advanced technologies to solve unusual or severe operational deficiencies noted during world crises, most recently in Afghanistan, Iraq, and for Homeland Defense and in the Pacific theater. Dr. Montgomery has accumulated 44 years of civilian service to-date at the Naval Research Laboratory.
Dr. Montgomery received the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 2001. He was recognized by the Department of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award in 1999 and by the Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1986. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, he received the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive in 1991 and again in 2002, and the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive in 1988, 1999 and again in 2007. He also received the 1997 Dr. Arthur E. Bisson Prize for Naval Technology Achievement, awarded by the Chief of Naval Research in 1998. Further, he has received the Association of Old Crows (Electronic Defense Association) Joint Services Award in 1993. He was an NRL Edison Scholar, and is a member of Sigma Xi. He served as the U.S. National Leader of The Technical Cooperation Program's multinational Group on Electronic Warfare from 1987 to 2002, and served as its Executive Chairman. In 2006, Dr. Montgomery received the Laboratory Director of the Year award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer, and in 2011, he received the Roger W. Jones Award for Executive Leadership from American University's School of Public Affairs.
Dr. Montgomery received his bachelor's of science degree in physics from North Texas State University in 1967 and his master's degree, also in physics, in 1969. He received his PhD in physics from the Catholic University of America in 1982. Dr. Montgomery is presently the Director of Research at the Naval Research Laboratory, where he oversees research and development programs with expenditures of approximately $1.2 billion per year.