Rosemary (Moneé) Hardesty, a highly decorated naval officer, has dedicated her 28-year career to the service in the US Navy. She began her journey enlisting in 1997 out of Texas, as a nuclear reactor operator and electronics technician, and has since risen through the ranks. Her latest endeavor is as a PhD student in Nuclear Engineering, showcasing her remarkable versatility and passion for innovation. Throughout her career, she has traveled extensively, gained a global perspective and developed her expertise as a technical expert and seasoned program leader.

She has successfully guided high-performing teams across diverse backgrounds, demonstrating her ability to manage large-scale organizations and complex multi-year contracts. Her expertise extends to overseeing the full acquisition lifecycle for the DoD’s most complex and valuable assets, such as nuclear aircraft carriers each worth billions of US dollars. She has managed projects ranging from early research and development to fielding, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning and disposal.

Her commitment to ethical leadership, strategic planning, and empowering warfighters is evident in her dedication to fostering excellence in the DoD’s STEM workforce. She impressively holds four degrees, with a fifth in progress: dual MIT graduate degrees in Nuclear Engineering, and dual BS degrees from Old Dominion University in Electrical and Computer Engineering where she ranked near the top of her class.

She is Defense Acquisition Advanced Level IV Program Management and Lean Six Sigma certified. As a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR, DC chapter), she traces her family’s deep roots in America back to a sailor on the Mayflower, reflecting her strong connection to the nation’s founding history. As a Christian, wife and mother of three homeschooled children-including one with special needs- she balances demanding military service with family life, drawing on her experiences to advocate for work-life integration and resilience in high-stakes environments.

Upon completing her PhD in nuclear engineering, she will become a professor at the US Naval Academy, where she will teach nuclear engineering to the next generation of our nation’s naval leaders.