Samantha Schwellenbach - Defense Security Cooperation University

Faculty

Education & Professional Practice

Ms. Samantha Schwellenbach serves as Faculty Associate within the Education and Professional Practice (EPP) at the Institute for Security Governance (ISG). In addition to teaching and conducting research in the area of defense acquisition, she serves as the project lead for the International Defense Acquisition Resource Management (IDARM) global resident courses and program engagements in the AFRICOM, CENTCOM, EUCOM, and INDOPACOM areas of responsibility.

Prior to her role at ISG, Ms. Schwellenbach served as faculty and international programs coordinator for the IDARM program. In this capacity, she directly contributed to the curriculum design and execution of defense acquisition management courses for countries in every region of the world and across a wide spectrum of contexts to support the IDARM mission and its core stakeholders within the US Navy, US Department of Defense, and US Department of State. Her research and publications focused on procurement and contracting, foreign military sales, and defense project management. As part of her role, she supported the development of strategic methods for managing the department's contracting process and provided technical support in the development of contract requirements and throughout contract performance.

Previously Ms. Schwellenbach worked as a consultant for a business transformation and technology company providing program management services. She also served as a research assistant within the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at the US Naval Postgraduate School (NPS).

Ms. Schwellenbach is an active member of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, with a certificate in International Studies, from Arizona State University, as well as a Master’s in Business Administration with a focus on acquisition and contract management from NPS.