Retired defense industry executive Charles McQueary has been named Undersecretary for Science and Technology at the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). McQueary, an engineer, must be confirmed by the Senate for the post, where he is to establish research funding priorities and help shape the biodefense agenda.
If confirmed, he will rejoin his old boss, Gordon England, who was confirmed in January as deputy secretary of the homeland agency. From 1997 through 2001, McQueary reported to England at General Dynamics Corp., the fifth largest defense contractor in the country.
McQueary retired in early 2002 from the presidency of a General Dynamics subsidiary that makes electronic components for communications and defense telecommunications applications. England, who was a corporate executive vice president, left General Dynamics to become Secretary of the Navy in 2001.
Now living in Greensboro, North Carolina, McQueary earned a doctorate in engineering mechanics from the University of...