Ron Jolly Joins IDA as Vice President, Corporate Operations
ALEXANDRIA, VA (March 2025) — Ron Jolly joined the IDA team on March 8, 2025, as the
Vice President, Corporate Operations.
“I am delighted to welcome Ron to IDA’s leadership team and to have him lead our corporate
operations efforts,” said IDA President Norty Schwartz.
In his new role, Ron will ensure the daily operations of IDA, partnering with corporate leadership
to understand their goals and managing the directorates responsible for providing the resources
staffers need to mee their objectives.
Prior to joining IDA, Ron served on the board of advisors for ThroughPut, Inc. Before that, he
was the director of Mission Assurance at Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. Ron was
the primary liaison to the Defense Contract Management Agency and led the preparation for the
critical Air Operations Inspection, which resulted in no major findings and ensured continuity of
operations for the manufacture of the first-ever B-21 bomber 6
th
generation strategic weapons
system.
Ron served in the U.S. Air Force where he held several leadership positions, including Director
of Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection for U.S. Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa. He
retired as a brigadier general after more than 30 years of service.
Ron holds a master’s degree in management from Troy State University, a master’s degree in
military operational art and science from the Air Command and Staff College, a master’s degree
in national security strategy from the National War College, and a bachelor’s degree in industrial
engineering and management from Oklahoma State University.
IDA is a nonprofit corporation that operates three federally funded research and development
centers in the public interest. IDA answers the most challenging U.S. security and science policy
questions with objective analysis leveraging extraordinary scientific, technical and analytic
expertise.
