Executive Mosaic is honored to announce Duane Andrews as the newest inductee into the Washington 100, the premier group of leaders who drive innovation and growth at the intersection of the public and private sectors.

Before entering the private sector in 1993, Andrews served in a number of government roles including assistant secretary of defense for 3CI and chief information officer at the Pentagon.

As some of the honors for his service, Andrews was recognized the Defense Department’s Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal and a number of military awards including the Bronze Star.

Dick Cheney would select Andrews as Assistant Secretary of Defense when Cheney became Secretary of Defense. They met while Andrews was serving as a professional Budget Committee staffer and Cheney was a member of Congress.

“(Cheney) used to come over and spend afternoons with the staff just asking questions,” Andrews told GovCon Exec.

“Most of the members you’d see a couple of hours a week. He would spend a couple of hours a day, when he had the time.”

The 20-year defense industry veteran would join SAIC in 1993 and spend 13 years at the company in roles including executive vice president for corporate development, president and chief operating officer of the federal business segment and EVP and COO.

He would then head to McLean, Va.-based QinetiQ North America, where he helped usher in a variety of work, such as “robots that defeat IEDs and defeat explosives, work that protects lives,” Andrews said.

“A lot of our system engineering work is independent verification and validation. We do a lot of science to support both things and people,” Andrews added.