Dr. Marti Jett was inducted into the Senior Executive Service as a science and technology professional Nov. 24 during a ceremony at the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Jett is the director of the Integrative Systems Biology Program at the USACEHR where she leads research in post-traumatic stress disorder and coagulopathy. Jett also serves as a principal investigator on research grants from multiple organizations within the DOD and the National Institutes of Health.

In his opening remarks at the ceremony, the USACEHR Commander Col. Thomas C. Timmes said Jett's leadership had been "transformative." He added that her transition to the USACEHR in 2011 doubled the size of the center's lab and tripled their budget.

"People want to collaborate with her. This helps our missions," said Timmes.

Echoing Timmes accolades, Maj. Gen. Brian C. Lein, commanding general of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and Fort Detrick, said that her accomplishments were "world renown." He noted that within the DOD, the science and technology position is one of the most challenging ranks to attain.

"Only 470 people within the DOD earned this degree. This relays a tremendous amount of recognition," said Lein.

Jett thanked attendees for their continuing support and teamwork.

"When this ragtag group of 24 people first arrived [at the USACEHR] we were met with such enthusiasm. We have thrived here," said Jett.

Born and raised near Marion, Ohio, Jett graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University with a degree in chemistry. She began her post-graduate studies in physiological chemistry at Ohio State University and received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Georgetown University. She began her doctoral career at the Blood Research Laboratory in Bethesda, Maryland. She joined the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in 1981 where she was appointed chief of the Department of Molecular Pathology 15 years later.

During her career Jett has worked tirelessly to share her enthusiasm for discovery with others. She is an adjunct research professor at Georgetown University, Howard University and Pennsylvania State University. Extending this zeal for knowledge to younger students, she co-founded the Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science program and helped shape the Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program.

Congress created the SES in 1978 to form a corps of executives selected to lead an ever-transforming government. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management website, ST incumbents are expected to have significant research experience and are sought after as advisors on scientific and technological problems.