Admiral
John Richardson, USN (Ret)

Admiral John Richardson served 37 years in the U.S. Navy, completing his service as the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), the top officer in the Navy. Since retirement, he has joined the boards of several major corporations and works in leader development.

While in the Navy, Richardson served in the submarine force. He commanded the attack submarine USS HONOLULU in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for which he was awarded the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Inspirational Leadership Award. He went on to command at every level of the Navy.

While in the Navy, Richardson also served as the naval aide to the President of the United States, the teacher for prospective submarine commanding officers, and a Director of Strategy and Policy.

Richardson served as the Director of Naval Reactors from 2012 until 2015. In this capacity, he was responsible for the design, safety, certification, operating standards, material control, maintenance, disposal, and regulatory oversight of over 100 nuclear power plants operating on nuclear-powered warships deployed worldwide.

He was the 31st Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) from 2015 until 2019. The CNO is responsible for the current and future readiness and operational effectiveness of the U.S. Navy: 600,000 Sailors and civilians, a $160B budget, over 70 installations, 290 warships, and over 2000 aircraft deployed worldwide. Richardson retired from the Navy in August 2019.

Since leaving the Navy, Richardson has joined the Board of Directors for Constellation Energy Corporation, The Boeing Company, and BWX Technologies. He also serves on the boards of the Center for New American Security and the Navy League of the United States. He is a Senior Fellow for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and Director’s Council for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Richardson graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in physics. He also holds an Electrical Engineer’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a Master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College.