Barbara Barrett

Barbara Barrett, born on December twenty-six, nineteen fifty, is a distinguished American businesswoman, attorney, and diplomat. She made history as the twenty-fifth Secretary of the Air Force, serving from two thousand nineteen to two thousand twenty-one. In this pivotal role, Barrett oversaw the operations of the Department of the Air Force, which includes both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force.

In addition to her governmental service, Barrett is an accomplished instrument-rated pilot and a dedicated rancher, managing cattle and bison. Her leadership extends beyond the military; she has held the position of chair at the Aerospace Corporation and serves on the boards of several prestigious organizations, including the California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, RAND Corporation, Smithsonian Institution, Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, and the Lasker Foundation.

On May twenty-one, two thousand nineteen, President Donald Trump nominated Barrett for the Secretary of the Air Force position, and she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with a vote of eighty-five to seven on October sixteenth of the same year. She was officially sworn in on October eighteenth, two thousand nineteen. Following her tenure as Secretary, Barrett was appointed to the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution on June twenty-third, two thousand twenty-one, a role she will fulfill until September seventeenth, two thousand twenty-six.