Mary Beth Long

Early life and education Long is a Clearfield, Pennsylvania native and the first person in her family to attend university. She is a 1985 Honors Program Graduate, magna cum laude, of Penn State University with a bachelor's degree in communications studies and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa while at Penn State. She attended the Taiwan National University and the Fu Ren Catholic University in Taiwan, extending her stay to travel and study Chinese language and culture on the Mainland.

In 1998, Long graduated cum laude with her J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law. She served as deputy and acting chief for the Haiti Task Force and was co-chair of a joint CIA-Drug Enforcement Administration counternarcotics targeting team.

Legal career After leaving the CIA, Long was an associate at Williams & Connolly Law Firm from 1999 to 2004, where she specialized in civil litigation.

Department of Defense Long began her career at the Department of Defense in May 2004 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counter Narcoterrorism (DASD-CN) with a budget of over $1 billion and served in that role until August 2006, including one year while dual-hatted in her international security affairs role. She spent considerable time in Afghanistan and was the architect of the counter narcotic police and other training. In August 2005, she became the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.

That same year, Long became the first woman appointed as the Chairman of the High Level Group responsible for NATO's nuclear policy, reporting to the Secretary General of NATO. and as a Senior International Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Colombia. Long also provided testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on the Western Hemisphere. Long was a senior advisor to the Mitt Romney presidential campaign in 2012, and was quoted as an expert on issues of national security and foreign policy during the 2016 election campaign.

In 2010, Long founded M B Long & Associates PLLC, a law firm specializing in international compliance and defense sales. In 2010, she joined NeuralIQ Government Services, Inc as Executive Vice President. She also co-founded Askari Defense and Intelligence, LLC, which led a defense delegation consisting of major U.S. defense corporations to Libya in 2013. In 2010, Long also founded Metis Solutions, a government contracting company, which she sold in 2016. In 2017, Long co-founded the consulting firm Global Alliance Advisors (GAA) with partner Richard Kirkland; and Charles Thomas Burbage, Jeffrey Kohler, Vice Admiral John W. Miller, and Admiral William J. Fallon joined shortly thereafter.

Affiliations Long is a member of the Board of Directors of AeroEnvironment, LLC. On the charity front, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Spy Museum and the Board of Advisors of America Abroad Media. She is "of counsel" at the law firm of Fluet Huber + Hoang PLLC (FH+H).

On policy and international affairs, Long is a member of the Vandenberg Coalition, the American Security Project, and is a Cipher Brief expert. and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). She is a member of the U.S.-UAE Business Council and serves as an advisor to a number of businesses, including GlobalEyes, She also was involved in CSIS's Task Force on Global Forced Migration, the Bi-partisan Policy Center's Syria and Middle East Project, the Council on Foreign Relations North Korea "Sharper Choice" report, the Harvard-sponsored, Belfer Center U.S.-Israel Track II Iran negotiations, In 2010, Long joined the External Advisory Board of the Penn State School of International Affairs. From 2006 to 2007, Long served on Penn State University's Schreyer's External Advisory Board. Chatham House, the Jewish Institute for National Security and America, the Atlantic Council, the Journal of International Security Affairs, Intelligence Squared, the University of Texas at San Antonio, Institute for Policy and Strategy, SETA Foundation, Hudson Institute, Gulf International Forum, Multinational Development Policy Dialogue, 'Spies, Lies & Nukes', Sedona Forum, the German Marshal Fund, Center for Strategic and International Studies, the University of California Irvine, Defense One, Breaking Defense, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Middle East Policy Council, the Institute for National Security Studies, the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, Middle East Institute, Council on Foreign Relations, Noticias Uno Colombia, the Turkish Heritage Organization, and the Herzilya Annual Conference. Long has spoken at the International Spy Museum, the Women's Foreign Policy Group, Colorado Bar Association Conference, USC US-China Institute, Clements Center for National Security, Penn State, the Institute for Policy and Strategy,

Long has written for major publications including The American Interest, Al Monitor, American Greatness, Real Clear Defense, The Hill, The National Interest, Haaretz, Foreign Policy, Middle East Policy, among others. Long has appeared on and been quoted by a number of global publications and media outlets such as NPR, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, BBC, and CSP. Long's additional appearances include the Capitol, Channel 4 News, i24News English, NTD News, the IDC International Radio, Kurdistan 24, and Al Jazeera. She has also been quoted by the Jerusalem Post and Intelligence Online.

Long also has appeared on podcasts including KCRW, Horns of a Dilemma, Life, Deconstructed, Salem Podcast Network, and the Rick Ungar Show Highlight Podcast.

Honors and awards

In June 2017, Long received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Penn State University, the university's highest honor presented to its alumni.

In June 2016 she was featured in Forbes magazine's Women Business Leaders.

In 2010, Long was the 15th speaker in the annual Mark Luchinisky Memorial Lecture series at Penn State University. Schreyer Honors College recognized her as an Outstanding Alumni Scholar in 2006.

While at DoD, Long received a number of additional awards, including the National Guard Patriot Award. At CIA Long also received various Superior and Outstanding Performance Awards from 1987 to 1999.

Publications