Bob Nugent joined the Busch School in 2018 as a Scholar-Practitioner Fellow and Research Assistant. He is also a Ph.D. Candidate in Management at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin School of Business, with research interests in the Defense Industrial Base, advanced technologies, organizations, and strategy. He continues to consult on strategy, competitive and management issues with several specialty firms serving a global client base in the defense and security sectors.

Over the past decade, Bob has presented, commented and published widely on naval, defense and economic issues, appearing on the BBC, CNBC, and Al Jazeera and in the pages of Defense News, Aviation Week, NHK, as well as German publishers Mittler and Monch.

He spent 22 years as a U.S. naval officer in intelligence, operations, diplomatic and acquisition assignments. This included duty as a Foreign Area Officer and Assistant Naval Attache in Moscow, and billets in Japan, Korea, the U.K., and Hawaii. He served in operational aviation and amphibious squadrons, and on the staff of the Navy Acquisition Executive in the Pentagon.

Bob received an M.B.A with honors from Marymount University (Arlington, Va.) in 2007, and was the 2003 President’s Honor Graduate at U.S. Naval War College. He attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and Defense Language Institute and received undergraduate degrees in Finance, Economics and Philosophy from New Mexico State University.

Bob and wife Nancy have seven children (three sons, four daughters) ages 10-23. Oldest son Bo (VMI ’16) is a student naval aviator. Favorite pastimes include driving to and spectating at children's’ sporting events, musical theater (fans of Gilbert & Sullivan and Rodgers & Hammerstein), beach trips, reading, and movies.