Name: Will Roper
Title: Director, Strategic Capabilities Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense
Agency: Department of Defense
Acquisition alchemist. Roper's ability to balance modernization demands and the costs of ongoing operations is part of what landed him a new job as the Air Force's assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics. Confirmed for that role in February, Roper is now responsible for ushering in major changes to that service's acquisition processes. Many of his accomplishments are not for attribution -- to keep adversaries from catching up, he once said, "you just don't talk about your best capabilities" -- but the Federal 100 judges praised Roper for transforming DOD's approach to advanced technologies.