The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies is pleased to announce that Amy O'Leary has been promoted to the position of Research Associate.  Ms. O'Leary has been employed as a Research Assistant in the Institute's Concepts & Analyses Division since 2010. In 2012, she was honored with the Institute's Junior Research Award.

Regarding Ms. O'Leary's new role, Dwight Lyons, Director of the Concepts & Analyses Division, commented, “ Amy O’Leary has progressed rapidly in learning and applying operations analysis skills, reaching a major milestone by independently leading a significant analytic task. I am extremely pleased with her accomplishments and her promotion to Research Associate. Bravo Zulu, Amy!”

Ms. O'Leary added, "I am very excited for this new opportunity that will increase my professional responsibilities and continue my development as an analyst.”    Prior to joining the Institute as a full-time employee, Ms. O'Leary worked as a consultant for the Institute from June –August 2009.  During that time, she worked as a data collector and analyst for an Office of Naval Research test event.  She conducted field work for military operations and collected and recreated data from the military exercises as well as analyzed the results and performance of the military operations, based on data reduction and graphs.

Following her employment as a consultant, Ms. O’Leary began her professional development in education, successfully completing a Teaching Associateship Practicum at the high school level, teaching United States History, World History and AP Art History.  She also completed the requirements to obtain a teaching license in the state of Virginia.  

As a Research Associate, Ms. O'Leary will continue her work with the Office of Naval Research on several projects.  In addition to her support and leadership of various exercises for the Office of Naval Research, she has also supported and planned projects for the Army’s Engineer Research and Development Center and the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab.

Ms. O’Leary holds a Master’s of Teaching in Social Studies Education and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Virginia.