Dr. Melissa Denihan may not wear a lab coat or wield a surgeon’s scalpel, but she’s an expert at prescribing the best medicine for the acquisition professionals attending NAVAIR’s College of Program Management.

Armed with a doctorate degree in human and organizational learning, Denihan oversees the development of the recently launched college’s curriculum. Her duties include defining the training needs and gaps of the program management workforce, developing course content, evaluating current training for relevance and utility to the workforce, and representing the college in the larger NAVAIR University construct.

Denihan’s background makes her well-equipped to cure what ails the program management workforce, said her supervisor Anthony Manich.

“Melissa has been a tremendous addition to our organization,” said Manich, the deputy assistant commander for Acquisition Program Management. “Her undeniable education and experience provides her the unique ability to look at our organization from an academic perspective as well as a working knowledge of competency aligned organizations.”

As the nation and DOD celebrates Women’s History Month in March, Denihan’s tale of how she attained advanced degrees and became an expert in her field serves as an inspiring story for women everywhere.

HOW SHE DID IT: “I came to NAVAIR straight out of college in 1997, initially working as a business financial manager for the F/A-18 program. As I pursued my graduate education, I moved into positions that better aligned with my career aspirations. In 2000, I accepted a position serving as an internal organizational development consultant for senior leadership at NAVAIR, NAWCAD [Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division] and AIR-4.0 [the engineering competency] as well as various program offices. A few years later, I worked as a human factors psychologist with AIR-4.6 [Human Systems Laboratory]. Throughout this time, I went to school full time in the evenings and weekends and completed both my master’s and doctoral degrees.

“When I finished my doctorate in 2005, I joined the active-duty Navy, serving as an aerospace experimental psychologist stationed at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. I went through flight and aeromedical training, and I earned my aerospace experimental psychologist aviation wings. For my next set of orders, I came back to NAWCAD in 2006 for my second active-duty assignment doing research on unmanned aircraft sy