Dan Dunmire

Dan Dunmire
M.P.A., 1984
Director, Corrosion Policy and Oversight
Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
Washington, D.C.

“I’m proud to be a bureaucrat. We allow the press to take that word and make it into something bad. But as a bureaucrat, you are responsible for implementing the rules and regulations and policies that the administration wants done—and to do it in an ethical, lawful manner. Making things happen... that’s what a real bureaucrat does. You give us a job, and we’ll figure out how to do it.”

For most of his career in the U.S. Department of Defense, Dan Dunmire worked in personnel or acquisitions. He never dreamed his work would someday involve corrosion. But in January 2003, he was appointed to lead a new effort in corrosion prevention and control. Dunmire quickly learned about the importance—and the immensity—of the task before him.

On the damage done by corrosion:
“In the Department of Defense, we spend about $20 billion a year on corrosion prevention and control. As a nation, it’s estimated that we spend $278 billion a year to fight corrosion. It’s a significant drain.

“It affects all of our equipment platforms and infrastructure in the military. Many people probably remember chemistry class and think that corrosion is limited to metal. But it can actually have an impact on anything that degrades—airfields, bridges, buildings, roofs, roadways.

“It’s has an impact on all of our equipment, vehicles, ships, and airplanes. It’s just nasty stuff. But we have great products that we’re using and testing now, and we hope to have more money down the road to develop even more advanced products for corrosion control and prevention.”

Like his career in the Department of Defense, Dunmire’s academic journey took some unexpected turns. He was born in Youngstown and grew up in the suburb of Hubbard, Ohio, and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications at Kent State University in 1974. He attended Kent State on an ROTC Scholarship and served four years of active duty with the U.S. Army in Germany.

After completing his tour in the Army, Dunmire wanted to attend graduate school. By then, his parents had retired to Florida, and he thought about enrolling at the University of South Florida. But a temporary job at Busch Gardens in Tampa turned into a two-year stint, and he then was hired by Marriott. After completing training, he moved to Birmingham to work for Marriott.

On getting started at UAB:
“After moving to Birmingham, one of the first things I did was go to UAB and talk to Dr. David Sink about enrolling in the Master of Public Administration program. I started part-time in January 1981 and wound up graduating in June 1984. Along the way, I operated a restaurant on Southside for two years, but I sold the business when I was accepted into the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program.

The PMF was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 to attract outstanding individuals from a wide variety of academic disciplines to the federal service. The program seeks to draw graduate students from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, providing a continuing source of trained men and women to meet the future challenges of public service. After completing the PMF program, Dunmire was recruited for a two-year rotation in the Department of Defense and has wound up staying in the department throughout his government career.

Most of his time has been spent in acquisitions. But from 1997 to 1999, he worked on a commercial development project with Heinz.

On his experience working with Heinz:
“My work was related to technology, development, and material planning. One of my primary responsibilities was to work with linerboards, which are used to make boxes for Heinz USA. I got to work on a number of special projects, and it was a wonderful opportunity.”

Dunmire served 16 years in the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring in 1994. He and his wife Susan, a 1983 UAB graduate in education, live in Stafford, Virginia. They have three children—Daniel, 16; Margaret, 15; and Gregg, 13.

Dunmire’s academic journey did not end with his graduation from UAB. He has completed the coursework for a Ph.D. in public administration from Virginia Tech University. He is taking his preliminary examinations this fall. His doctoral dissertation will focus on public/private partnerships.

UAB remains close to Dunmire’s heart. He is active in the Washington, D.C., chapter of the UAB National Alumni Society. The group recently hosted a reception, attended by President Carol Garrison, Ph.D., and Provost Eli Capilouto, Ph.D., at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. The chapter’s next event is planned for October 21 at the Crystal City Sports Pub in Arlington, Virginia, in conjunction with the Southern Miss-UAB football game that will be televised nationally on ESPN that night.

Working in corrosion also has strengthened Dunmire’s UAB ties. He has co-authored a paper with Neil Thompson, Ph.D. (B.S., 1976; M.S., 1977), chief executive officer of Cortest Columbus Technologies of Dublin, Ohio, the largest corrosion science group in North America. Thompson will be the keynote speaker at a conference Dunmire is planning for November 2005.

On the impact UAB has had on his career:
“I wouldn’t be where I am without UAB. I had some wonderful professors, people like David Sink, Steve Haeberle, Mary Ellen Guy, and Pat Coles. They made sure I was grounded. When I came to D.C. and started working in the Pentagon and saw how things worked, I was prepared. I had taken the right quantitative and qualitative courses; I knew how the budget process works, how to get items on the agenda. I thank UAB every day for that.”

One of Dunmire’s primary objectives in his current position is to work with the military departments to ensure that corrosion prevention strategies are incorporated at the early stages of the acquisition process. The Department of Defense has stated that corrosion should be objectively evaluated as part of program design and development throughout the military. With that in mind, Dunmire facilitated an effort to develop the Corrosion Prevention and Control Planning Guidebook, which is used by the Military Departments.

On working in public service:
“Attitude is so important in everything we do. There are a lot of good federal workers. The American public has tended to forget that bureaucrats do a lot of good work.

“It’s hard for us to defend ourselves. We can’t be vocal and get in the news; that’s not our job. But whether it’s a military officer or someone working in a civilian position, we make things happen.”