Frank Kendall is an independent consultant to defense industry firms and nonprofit research organizations. Kendall has more than 50 years of experience in engineering, management, defense acquisition, and national security affairs in private industry, government, and the military. From 2021 to 2025 he served as the secretary of the Air Force. In this role he was responsible for the management of the Department of the Air Force, which includes the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force. He supervised more than 600,000 airmen and guardians and civilian employees and an annual budget of more than $200 billion. During his tenure as secretary he advanced modernization, reoptimized the department for an era of great power competition, and secured tens of billions of increased funding. Kendall is a member of the board of directors of the Air and Space Forces Association, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a member of the advisory board of the Truman National Security Project, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Prior to his Department of the Air Force role, Kendall served on the boards of Leidos Inc. and Leonardo Electronics USA Inc. From 2012 to 2017, Kendall served as the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics. Earlier in his career, Kendall was the vice president of engineering for Raytheon Co. and the deputy director of defense research and engineering for Tactical Warfare Programs. In addition, Kendall is an attorney and has been active in the field of human rights, working primarily on a pro bono basis. He has served as the chairman of the board of the Tahirih Justice Center, a member of the boards of Amnesty International USA and the Center for Victims of Torture, and as an observer for Human Rights First at Guantanamo.
Among his awards are four Defense Distinguished Public Service Awards, the highest secretary of Defense award for civilian service, and the Presidential Rank Award for Senior Executives. In 2016, Kendall was named “Aviation Week and Space Technology” Person of the Year (together with Secretary Ash Carter and Deputy Secretary Robert Work). He is the author of Getting Defense Acquisition Right (Defense Acquisition University Press 2017).
Kendall retired from the U.S. Army Reserves as a lieutenant colonel and is a graduate of the Army War College. He holds degrees from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the California Institute of Technology, the C.W. Post Center of Long Island University, and the Georgetown University Law Center. Kendall is an avid sailor and ocean racer and resides in Falls Church, Virginia, with his wife, Beth, and youngest son, James.