Jeff Decker, PhD, is a recognized expert in defense innovation, entrepreneurship and education. With extensive experience bridging the gap between startups and the Department of Defense, he has helped numerous companies successfully navigate the defense marketplace.
As a thought leader in the defense innovation ecosystem, Dr. Decker combines academic rigor with practical experience to provide entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in the defense sector. This methodology has been implemented at leading universities and defense innovation hubs around the globe with the Hacking for Defense® (H4D) course, which is taught at more than 70 institutions worldwide, created 70+ startups that have generated 660+ jobs and raised more than $350 million.
As the managing director of the Tech Transfer for Defense (TT4D) program at Stanford University's Precourt Institute for Energy, Dr. Decker and his team work to transform how startups tackle defense and national security challenges. TT4D specializes in matching Defense Department funding with academic research projects. In the past six years, TT4D has worked with numerous faculty members at more than a dozen universities to help them win Defense Department grants, and with the Office of Naval Research, totaling more than $13 million, to support research funding and transition academic technologies from lab to defense capabilities.
Dr. Decker's work have been featured in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, War on the Rocks, Future, and he has been a lecturer at Defense innovation events and at SXSW. He earned a MS in International Relations (Laws), and a doctorate in International Relations before conducting national security and international affairs research at the RAND Corporation before joining Stanford University. He is also the author of "The Hacking for Defense Manual," the official textbook for the Hacking for Defense course.
