OU launches national security initiative, names Stamey director
The university will organize its defense research around six mission areas, including radar, autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, and workforce training.
The University of Oklahoma restructured its national security and defense research strategy and named longtime Air Force leader Kevin Stamey as director of national security strategy and integration.
The initiative brings OU’s work together across six areas: radar and electromagnetic dominance, autonomous and counter-autonomous systems, sustainment and modernization, resilient systems and mission assurance, security policy and risk, and advanced workforce training.
Stamey spent nearly four decades in Air Force acquisition, engineering, and sustainment leadership. Most recently, he led more than 2,100 personnel and oversaw a roughly $39 billion portfolio of airlift, tanker, and training aircraft.
His career included several senior roles at Tinker Air Force Base. As executive director of the Air Force Sustainment Center, Stamey helped lead 40,000 personnel across 26 locations and directed the Air Force’s $17.6 billion supply chain and depot maintenance enterprise. He also led 4,500 scientists and engineers across three Air Force bases and created innovation centers connecting the military with universities, industry, and local governments.
OU said the initiative will draw from research programs across the university, including the Advanced Radar Research Center, Sooner Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory, Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, Data Institute for Societal Challenges, and Gallogly College of Engineering.
Lt. Gen. Donald Wetekam, who led OU’s national security and defense effort during the past year, will remain with the university as a senior faculty fellow.
