Megan C. Clifford has more than 20 years of experience in executive-level business and capability leadership roles, including leading large business units, complex programs, and multi-disciplinary teams. She promotes a culture of diversity and inclusion through values-based leadership. She joined Argonne in 2013.

In her current role, Clifford leads efforts to maximize outcomes of existing collaborations, drive the creation of new partnerships, and enable laboratory-wide strategy and program development – all with the goal of increasing the impact of Argonne’s work. 

Prior to serving in her current role, Clifford served as Argonne’s Chief of Staff. Working with leaders across the laboratory, Clifford stewarded Argonne’s change initiative to deliver lasting impact through science and technology leadership, research and operations excellence, and people development. 

Prior to becoming Argonne’s Chief of Staff, Clifford served as Director of Strategy and Innovation for Argonne’s Global Security Sciences division. In this role, she developed strategies and programs with multidisciplinary teams to address a range of energy and global security challenges.

Clifford has extensive experience in national security and resilience policy and analysis. Her involvement in the national security mission dates back to the establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where she helped create the foremost national preparedness doctrine.

Clifford previously held a senior executive position at Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. in Washington, D.C., where she served on the leadership team responsible for performance of the firm’s Justice and Homeland Security business.

Clifford holds a BA in international business from The George Washington University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Clifford serves on the board of directors for the Illinois Science & Energy Innovation Foundation (“Energy Foundry”) and on the board of directors for mHUB. She serves as Argonne’s institutional representative to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education. Clifford is also a member of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, NASEM Government University Industry Research Roundtable, and the Discovery Partners Institute Partner Council.