February 28, 2023 Speaker:
Michael Chriszt
Vice President and Regional Engagement Officer in the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Corporate Engagement Division
Michael Chriszt is vice president and regional engagement officer in the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Corporate Engagement Division. In this role, he serves as the Atlanta Fed’s lead public engagement officer focusing on smaller cities and towns, as well as rural areas, in the Sixth District, connecting directly with citizens to explain the Federal Reserve and its policy decisions, and he in turn learns how the economy is affecting their lives. He shares this information with the Bank’s senior leaders and other policy experts throughout the Atlanta Fed to deepen understanding of the District economy.
Prior to assuming his current responsibilities, Chriszt was a vice president and public affairs officer, where he led the Bank’s outreach and communications efforts. Before joining Public Affairs, he worked in the Atlanta Fed’s Research Department, where he held numerous positions, including leadership positions in the Bank’s Regional Economic Information Network.
While at Miami University in Ohio, Chriszt earned two bachelor’s degrees, one in history and one in diplomacy and foreign affairs. He also earned a master’s degree there in political science with emphases on international economics and comparative politics.
Chriszt is a member of the National Association of Business Economists and the Atlanta Economics Club, where he served as president from 2015 to 2017. He also serves on the advisory board of the Michael J. Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University and the board of the Georgia Council on Economic Education. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Chriszt is married to Maxine, and they have five children and three grandchildren.
September 20, 2022 Speaker:
Richard De Fatta
Deputy to the Commander, United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command
Mr. Richard De Fatta serves as deputy to the commander, United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command, effective Feb. 27, 2022. As the senior civilian in the command, he provides leadership supporting the commanding general’s priorities, initiatives and directed areas of responsibilities. Mr. De Fatta provides oversight and direction for USASMDC’s Technical Center and Center of Excellence, Army Space and Missile Defense programs, command acquisition and proponency support, command contracting efforts, organizational personnel and resource management, and is authorizing official for command systems. Mr. De Fatta joined USASMDC and the Senior Executive Service in 2013 and has extensive professional leadership experience, in both government and contractor positions, specializing in acquisition: development, testing, production, fielding, sustainment, and life-cycle support of major weapons systems and integration of emerging technologies.
Significant programs include: Pershing II, Laser Countermeasure Weapons, Combat Vehicle Survivability, Kwajalein Missile Range, Medium Extended Air Defense System, STINGER, Sentinel Radar, Surface Launched AMRAAM, Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser, JLENS, Integrated Fire Control, BMDS systems and testing, and Targets and Countermeasures. Mr. De Fatta currently serves as the USASMDC Deputy to the Commander.
His previous assignment was as the director, Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, responsible for Space and Strategic Missile Defense Doctrine and Training, Concept Developments, Decision Support and the Army Capability Managers for Space and High Altitude and Strategic Missile Defense, from March 2017 to February 2022. Mr. De Fatta’s previous USAMSDC assignments include director, Future Warfare Center; director, Capability Development and Integration, Future Warfare Center; director, Air and Missile Defense, Technical Center; and acting director, Technical Center, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command where he was responsible for managing research, development, and test programs for space, missile defense, cyber, directed energy, and related technologies. He was also responsible for the management of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Marshall Islands.
He retired from the Army as a colonel in 2005 and spent more than seven years in senior contractor positions providing systems engineering, integration, test, program management, and technical support to Department of Defense programs responsible for the development, production, and fielding of missile defense weapon systems.
Mr. De Fatta’s previous military assignments include: project manager, Cruise Missile Defense Systems (formerly SHORAD), Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space; chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology; product manager for the U.S. Medium Extended Air Defense System, Program Executive Office for Air and Missile Defense; director, Kwajalein Missile Range, USASMDC/ARSTRAT; product manager, Combat Vehicle Signature Management Program, Program Executive Office for Armored Systems Modernization; PEO Air Defense liaison officer for Europe; Laser Countermeasure program manager, Directed Energy Directorate, U.S. Army Missile Command Research Development Engineering Center; and Research and Development coordinator, Pershing Project Office.
Mr. De Fatta graduated in 1978 from the U.S. Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science in engineering and later earned a Master of Science in engineering physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in systems management from the Florida Institute of Technology. He attended the U.S. Army War College and U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. A member of the Army Acquisition Corps since its inception, he completed the Executive PM, Advanced PM, and Military Acquisition Management courses, and is level III certified in program management.
During his military career, Mr. De Fatta received the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (two oak leaf clusters), Meritorious Service Medal (three oak leaf clusters), Army Commendation Medal (three oak leaf clusters), the Army Achievement Medal, Army Staff Identification Badge, and Parachutist Badge. He is also the recipient of the Army Space and Missile Defense Association Technical Achievement Award and National Defense Industrial Association Defense Technical Award.
February 2022
