Denise Der

Ms. Denise Der is the Assistant Research Director and an Analyst in the Office of Net Assessment (ONA), Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). In that role, she advises the Research Director on planning and implementation of the ONA research agenda. She is also conducting research on a specific assessment topic and advises ONA’s Director on trends in the U.S.-China competition. Ms. Der has previously worked at the Joint Advanced Warfighting Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses, SAIC (formerly Scitor Corporation), Strategy & Force Development in OSD-Policy, and the National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs. She also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines, where she taught high school English and led educational campaigns in her community on environmental protection and reviving local fishing. A native of Illinois, Ms. Der received her M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University and her B.A. in political science from Boston College.