Kathleen Anne Holland Hicks[1][2] (born September 25, 1970)[1][3] is a former American civil servant who served as the United States deputy secretary of defense from 2021 to 2025.

in history and politics at Mount Holyoke College in 1991, where she graduated with magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors.

[7] From 1993 to 2006, Hicks was a career civil servant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, rising from Presidential Management Fellow to the Senior Executive Service.

[6] Hicks formerly served as a senior vice president, Henry A. Kissinger Chair, and director of the international security program at CSIS.

[20] She oversees the military's first commercial space integration strategy,[21] as well as several of the Pentagon's largest missile defense and long-range strike programs.

[25] She has also focused on efforts to take care of service members and their families,[26] including countering sexual assault and harassment and preventing suicide.

[27][28][29] In April 2023, Hicks was interviewed by comedian Jon Stewart, who confronted her about the military defense budget and spending priorities, and suggested there is too much "waste, fraud, and abuse" within the DoD.

[30] According to Military Times, she responded by "conceding past shortcomings in spending priorities but insisting that the current administration has focused more on correcting those issues".