Dr. John Hillen, Professor of Management and Executive-in-Residence at George Mason’s School of Business, was presented with the Meritorious Public Service Award from the US Navy. This is the third highest honor the US Navy can bestow upon a civilian.“It was a great honor to help advise the head of the US Navy for many years and lead several studies that impact the service,” Hillen said. “In particular, the study on teaching ethics in the Navy, which is an essential part of the curriculum in my leadership class in our MBA program.”
Hillen, who is also a decorated US Army combat veteran, was honored for his service as a member of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel for the past nine years, where he acted as a personal advisor to four Chiefs of Naval Operations. Hillen’s roles included providing advice on essential Naval and National Security matters and leading several studies for the Navy, including one on teaching and training ethics in the service.
According to the Mason news release, the citation given to Hillen reads,
“Hillen’s leadership and superb council on the Navy Ethics study led to significant recommendations that were of great value to the Chief of Naval Operations. His contributions to studies on Iran, Agile Information Technology, Rightsizing the Civilian Workforce, and Survivable Communications directly impacted operational improvements and had a significant influence on U.S. Navy policies and programs.”
According to his faculty profile, Hillen teaches course in leadership, strategy, international business strategy, entrepreneurship and specialty EMBA and MBA courses on business issues in national security and the general government contracting industry. He writes a monthly column on leadership and strategy issues in Washington Technology magazine.
Hillen was presented the award on January 24, 2017 at the Pentagon. Admiral John Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations and head of the US Navy, presented the award.