Rachel Riley

Rachel Balzer

Rachel Marie Riley (née Woodlee) is an American consultant who has served as the acting chief of naval research at the United States Navy since 2025. Riley graduated from Wofford College and was a Rhodes Scholar, attending the University of Oxford. After graduating from Oxford, she began working for McKinsey & Company, eventually becoming a partner. In January 2025, Riley joined the Department of...

Rachel Marie Riley (née Woodlee) is an American consultant who has served as the acting chief of naval research at the United States Navy since 2025. Riley graduated from Wofford College and was a Rhodes Scholar, attending the University of Oxford. After graduating from Oxford, she began working for McKinsey & Company, eventually becoming a partner. In January 2025, Riley joined the Department of Government Efficiency, particularly focusing on the Department of Health and Human Services. In October, she was named to lead the Office of Naval Research. Early life and education Rachel Marie Woodlee was born in Greer, South Carolina. She attended Riverside Middle School and Mauldin High School, where she played volleyball. Woodlee signed with Wofford College to play volleyball. At Wofford, she majored in business economics and Chinese and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Woodlee was named as a Rhodes Scholar finalist in November 2012 and received the scholarship, becoming the sixth person and the first woman from Wofford to become a Rhodes Scholar. She attended the University of Oxford on the scholarship. Career McKinsey & Company (2017–2025) After graduating from the University of Oxford, Woodlee began working for McKinsey & Company, eventually becoming a partner. By February 2025, she had resigned to work for the Department of Government Efficiency. Department of Government Efficiency (January–October 2025) By January 2025, Riley had begun working for a preliminary network that would form the Department of Government Efficiency as an associate of Brad Smith. The following month, she began working at the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services alongside Luke Farritor; that month, ABC News reported that Riley was also serving as a senior advisor at the Department of State. Riley requested access to Medicare payment systems and met with the acting leadership of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that month. Joined by Farritor, her work included reviewing IT contracts at the Food and Drug Administration. In March, The Washington Post obtained an internal directory indicating that Riley was working at the National Institutes of Health. As the Department of Health and Human Services faced layoffs, she was criticized for limiting access to the master reorganization plan, preventing the employees responsible for executing the layoffs from viewing data files. In September, Riley led an unsuccessful effort to fire 8,000 workers at the department ahead of a federal government shutdown, including an attempt to dissolve the Center for Scientific Review at the National Institutes of Health. Acting Chief of Naval Research (2025–present) On October 30, 2025, Politico reported that Riley was named the chief of naval research at the United States Navy. She replaced Rear Admiral Kurt J. Rothenhaus as head of the Office of Naval Research, a position historically held by an active duty two-star admiral. References Works cited