Charles McQueary

he Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has long been the envy of other federal agencies, as well as other nations. Now DARPA will have a civilian counterpart focused on homeland defense.

The administration has requested $350 million in new funding for Homeland Security's Advanced Research Projects Agency for fiscal 2004 "to address gaps in high priority operational areas like protecting critical infrastructure and our borders."

The Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology directorate will encompass much more than this new civilian agency. The president's 2004 budget calls for another $453 million for other programs in the directorate, whose mission is to coordinate development of countermeasures and responses to terrorist threats involving weapons of mass destruction. "The emphasis within this enterprise will be on catastrophic terrorism," the directorate's mission statement says.

At the helm of the Science and Technology directorate is Charles McQueary, retired president of General Dynamics' Advanced Technology Systems in Greensboro, N.C. The company is a producer of electro-optic undersea systems, networking and decision support systems, active control systems, signal processing solutions and software solutions, all primarily for the Defense Department.

Before joining General Dynamics in 1997, McQueary spent a decade as president and vice president of the AT&T Corp. division that was spun off as Lucent Technologies. He worked at AT&T's prestigious Bell Laboratories, eventually becoming its director, from 1971 to 1987. He holds a doctoral degree in engineering mechanics.

During his years in North Carolina, McQueary became well known as a civic leader. His volunteer work included school improvement campaigns, the United Way of Greensboro, the board of trustees of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and economic development activities. He is a former member of the National Defense Industrial Association's board of directors.