Sheila Scanlon

Sheila Scanlon was appointed the Chief of Staff for the division on  June 1, 2020. 

Scanlon is a retired Colonel after serving 32 years of continuous active duty with the United States Marine Corps where she has extensive training in strategic planning and operations. Her last assignment on active duty was a combat tour in Afghanistan where she was a senior advisor to the Minister of Interior for administration and logistics and to the Director of Women, Human Rights and Children for the Afghan National Police.  Upon retirement, Sheila returned to Afghanistan as a Department of Defense civilian for two years as the senior civilian advisor to the Ministry of Defense and as the gender advisor to the Afghan National Army. She then worked for the Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe, as the team leader, in Odessa, Ukraine.  Upon her return, Scanlon worked at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she taught for both the Political Science Department and the International Affairs Program. 

She is a graduate from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in Political Science and has a MA in National Strategic Studies, from National Defense University.  Scanlon is the Vice President of the Colorado Chapter of the Women Marine Association and the Vice Chair of the Colorado Board of Veteran Affairs whose mission is to advise and assist the governor and others regarding veterans’ matters.  She also volunteers at the US Army War College, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, as a subject matter expert on Women, Peace, and Security.