Veteran Fellowship Program | Advisory Council
Chair
H.R. McMaster
Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow
H. R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University and the Japan Chair at the Hudson Institute. He is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He was the 25th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018.
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Rye Barcott
Rye Barcott is cofounder and CEO of With Honor, a cross-partisan political nonprofit that fights polarization in Congress with principled veteran leadership. He previously cofounded and led the solar power investment firm Double Time Capital, and cofounded the nongovernmental youth leadership and public health organization CFK Africa in the Kibera informal settlement of Nairobi, Kenya. Written for students, his memoir It Happened on the Way to War juxtaposes service in the Marine Corps with social entrepreneurship in Africa. Dartmouth awarded him an honorary doctorate in humane letters, and Bono called it a "wild ride." Barcott earned his Masters in Business Administration and Public Administration from Harvard, where he was a Center for Public Leadership Fellow and served on the Harvard Endowment's Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility. He serves as secretary of the board of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation, and chair of the board of CFK Africa.
Jim Bochnowski
Jim Bochnowski founded Delphi Ventures in 1988, focusing on medical devices and biotechnology. He will sunset the firm with the conclusion of the eighth Limited Partnership, Delphi VIII, and now invests actively as an angel investor across various fields. Jim began investing in medical companies in 1981 after co-founding Technology Venture Investors, a private venture capital partnership. Since 1984, he has focused exclusively on healthcare investments. From 1976 to 1980, Jim was with Shugart Associates, a venture-backed disk drive company. As President and CEO, he led Shugart to increasing profitability, with annual revenues growing from $13 million to $200 million. Shugart was acquired by Xerox in 1979. From 1972 to 1976, Jim was a general partner with Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette's (DLJ) venture capital arm, the Sprout Capital Group. Prior to that, he served as a securities analyst with DLJ. Trained as an aerospace engineer at MIT, Jim served as an Army officer and a missile systems engineer with the U.S. Army Missile Intelligence Directorate and currently serves on the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Jim was a director of the Western Association of Venture Capital.
Zac Bookman
Zac Bookman is the CEO of OpenGov, the “GovTech” cloud software leader. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz and other top funds, OpenGov powers more effective and accountable government in more than 1,500 cities, counties, and state agencies across the United States. Before cofounding OpenGov, Bookman served as advisor to US Army general H. R. McMaster on the Anti‑Corruption Task Force at the International Security Assistance Force headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. He previously practiced trial litigation at Keker, Van Nest & Peters in San Francisco, and served as law clerk to the Honorable Sandra S. Ikuta on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Bookman studied corruption in Mexico as a Fulbright fellow and has taught American government at San Quentin State Prison. He holds a JD from Yale Law School and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School and graduated as valedictorian from the University of Maryland. Bookman serves on the board and as advisor for various technology companies and funds and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Young Presidents’ Association. He has been named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, among the Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, and one of the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s “40 under 40.”
Tom Bostick
Lieutenant General Thomas P. Bostick, US Army (Ret.), is a strategic advisor for Ginkgo Bioworks and was previously president and chief operating officer of Intrexon Bioengineering. Bostick was the 53rd chief of engineers and commanding general of the US Army Corps of Engineers and helped lead the nation’s response to Superstorm Sandy. He is the author of Winning After Losing: Building Resilient Teams.
In the army, Bostick also served as director of personnel and was deployed with the First Cavalry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He later commanded the Gulf Region Division with responsibility for an $18B construction program. As a White House Fellow, Bostick was the special assistant to the secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and serves on the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program Committee, focusing on sustainable solutions for the Gulf of Mexico and serves on the boards of CSX, Perma-Fix, Fidelity Investments Equity and High-Income Fund, HireVue, Allonnia, and the nonprofits American Corporate Partners and Resilient Cities Catalyst.
Bostick graduated from the US Military Academy, holds a MS in civil and mechanical engineering from Stanford University, an MBA with distinction from Oxford University, and a PhD in systems engineering from George Washington University.
Barbara Comstock
Barbara Comstock is a Senior Adviser at Baker Donelson. She has served as a member of Congress (2015–19), a member of the Virginia General Assembly (2010–15), director of public affairs at the Justice Department, chief counsel on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, and a senior aide to Congressman Frank Wolf. She also was a senior partner at Blank Rome law firm and has worked on numerous campaigns and conventions in her lifetime of political involvement.
Comstock was named one of the top ten most effective lawmakers in the 115th Congress by the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint effort of the University of Virginia (UVA) and Vanderbilt University, and has been a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics, UVA’s Center for Politics, and the American University Sine Institute. Barbara serves as an ABC News political contributor and appears regularly on CNN, PBS, and MSNBC. She serves on the boards of Vivint Home Security, Trustar Bank, and UVA’s Miller Center for the Study of the Presidency. She is a mother of three and grandmother of six and lives in McLean, Virginia, with her husband, Chip, a lifelong high school educator and administrator.
Steven L. Eggert
Steven L. Eggert is the founder of American River Partners. He also founded Anton DevCo, one of California’s largest multifamily housing developers. He has built over 12,000 rental apartments in over 70 projects over 30 years. Mr. Eggert serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he co-founded the Hoover Study Missions program. He is a trustee of Claremont McKenna College.
Steve and his wife Pam are active philanthropists, especially for educational causes. He has previously served as a publicly elected local official and as a planning commissioner. Mr. Eggert earned his bachelor's degree from Claremont McKenna College and his law degree from U.C. Berkeley. He served as a U.S. Army officer and Airborne Ranger, stationed in Germany for over three years patrolling the Iron Curtain. He speaks German.
Rosetta Ellis-Pilie
Rosetta Ellis-Pilie is Vice President of talent development and negotiations at ESPN. In that role, Ellis-Pilie leads the efforts of ESPN’s Talent Office, which is responsible for hiring and developing the network’s commentator team, negotiating contracts, and collaborating with stakeholders on all matters related to talent responsibilities.
Prior to filling her current role, Ellis-Pilie, who joined ESPN in 2011, worked as an attorney in ESPN’s Legal Department for a decade, during which time she represented ESPN in employment law matters and served as lead attorney for ESPN Radio, the ESPY Awards, and ESPN’s “combat sport” category, which included oversight for ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing and UFC partnerships.
During her ESPN tenure, Ellis-Pilie participated in the launch of the company’s “Heroes Work Here” campaign, which helps hire, train, and support military veterans entering the civilian workforce. Prior to completing her postsecondary education, she served in the US Army, and she is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.
Ellis-Pilie, a New Jersey native, earned her bachelor of arts in criminal justice from Seton Hall University, and her juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law.
David Hoyt
David is CEO and Co-Founder of a startup in the maritime sector that is still in stealth. Originally a high school drop-out in NJ, David earned a GED and AA before transferring to Stanford, where he earned his BA in International Relations with a focus on US-China Relations in 2013. After college, David worked for the McChrystal Group in a combination of consulting, finance, strategy, and legal roles. David returned to Stanford to complete a JD/MBA, while working in cybersecurity law, automotive economics, and early-stage venture capital investing. After passing the California Bar Exam, David raised money from the US Navy to help build Stanford’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation as its inaugural assistant director from 2021–2024. In 2024, David left Stanford to co-found a dual-use company.
Mike Kuiken
Mike Kuiken is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and advises the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP). In addition to his role at the Hoover Institution, he is a member of Anthropic's National Security and Public Sector Advisory Council and consults with CEOs, boards, and senior leaders across various sectors, including investment, AI, defense, and technology on a global scale.
He serves as a Commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, further emphasizing his influence in national security matters. Previously, as Senate Majority Leader Schumer's National Security Advisor, Mike held the Senate's most senior national security staff role, leading successful efforts like the CHIPS and Science Act and managing the Senate's Artificial Intelligence Insight Forums. His extensive experience also includes over 12 years as a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Throughout his career, Mike has engaged with nearly every significant national security policy issue of the past two decades, from the post-9/11 conflicts to contemporary tensions involving China and Taiwan. He began his career on the team of the late Senator Carl Levin in the summer of 2001. Mike holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Calvin University and an M.A. in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University.
Christopher Starling
Colonel Christopher Starling, US Marine Corps (ret.), served twenty-six years on active duty as an infantry officer and completed ten overseas deployments including three combat tours. His work over the last decade focused on the Veteran community. He currently leads F3USA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides cybersecurity training and job placement as a DoD SkillBridge Partner.
While on active duty, Chris commanded the Second Battalion, Second Marine Division, based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and the 23d Marine Regiment based in San Bruno, California. Staff assignments included instructor duty at the US Military Academy, West Point, New York; Chief of the Partnership Division at US Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany; and Senior US military Advisor to the Emirati Presidential Guard in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Colonel Starling holds a BA from the Virginia Military Institute and a Master’s of Public Administration from the City University of New York. He was a 2007–8 National Security Affairs Fellow at Hoover, where he published his research on China’s expanding influence in Africa.
Michael Thiel
Michael Thiel is an investor, board member, and veterans’ advocate focused on technology and real estate. He chairs Swords to Plowshares, a nonprofit supporting over 3,000 homeless and low-income veterans annually in the San Francisco Bay Area, and advises the Academy Investor Network, connecting veteran entrepreneurs with capital. Thiel invests in veteran-founded innovators like Proteus Space (AI-driven spacecraft design) and LeaseLock (rental insurance tech), and serves on the board of POLCO, a civic engagement platform. A former US Navy officer with two Arabian Gulf deployments, he earned a B.S. in Physics from the US Naval Academy, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School, and held senior roles at KLA-Tencor and Solectron. Thiel offers technology policy and veterans’ affairs expertise.
William J. Walker
The Honorable William J. Walker was sworn in as the 38th Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives on April 26, 2021, and served during the 117th Congress. An elected officer, the Sergeant at Arms is the chief law enforcement, security, and protocol officer of the House of Representatives. He previously served, by Presidential appointment, as the 23rd Commanding General of the District of Columbia National Guard. Major General Walker led National Guard civil support to the U.S. Capitol Police following the January 6, 2021, attack, and was subsequently in command of over 28,000 Guardsmen assigned to the Capitol for the 59th Presidential inauguration. He served as a National Guardsmen and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent for thirty years and retired at the Senior Executive Service rank.
General Walker was educated at the University of Illinois (BA), Chicago State University (MS), the National Intelligence University (MS), and American University (MA). He completed graduate certificate programs at Harvard, George Washington, and Syracuse Universities; is a MIT Seminar XXI Fellow, and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. General Walker served in Afghanistan.
