Dr. Michelle is the Acting Director for the Department of the Air Force Integrated Resilience Office. She is responsible for all matters relating to the strategic planning, research and development, and implementation of the Air Force resiliency programs to optimize Airmen and Guardian performance.
Dr. Zbylut was first appointed to Senior Executive Service in 2018 as the Director, U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) and Chief Psychologist of the United States Army. As Director, she led the Army’s Science and Technology (S&T) program to develop innovative approaches to improve talent management, personnel assessment, leader development, team performance, and personnel readiness. Prior to her role as Director, Dr. Zbylut was ARI’s first Senior Research Scientist (ST) and served as a recognized scientific authority, consultant, and advisor to Army leaders in matters related to the behavioral and social sciences. In 2023, Dr. Zbylut served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Research & Technology), providing strategic direction and fiscal oversight of the Army’s Science and Technology portfolio for all Army laboratories and Research, Development, and Engineering Centers.
In September 2023, Dr. Michelle Zbylut was appointed to Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Equity & Inclusion) and directed the U.S. Army Equity and Inclusion Agency until January 2025. As the DASA(E&I), Dr. Zbylut provided strategic guidance and oversight for both the Army’s civilian equal employment opportunity (EEO) and military equal opportunity (MEO) policies and programs. As proponent of the Army’s civilian EEO program, she oversaw the daily operation and execution of one of the most comprehensive EEO compliance and complaints adjudication programs within the Federal government.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Industrial and Organizational Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX
M.A., Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX
B.S., Psychology, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX
ASSIGNMENTS or CAREER CHRONOLOGY
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2025 – Present: Acting Director, Air Force Integrated Resilience Office, Pentagon, VA
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2023 – 2025: Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Equity & Inclusion), Fort Belvoir, VA
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2023 – 2024: Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Army for Diversity & Inclusion, Fort Belvoir, VA
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2023: Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Research & Technology), Pentagon, VA
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2018 – 2023: Director, U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral & Social Sciences, Fort Belvoir, VA
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2015 – 2018: Senior Research Scientist (Systems Science/Human Science), U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral & Social Sciences, Fort Belvoir, VA
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2013 – 2015: Chief, Programs, Budget & Strategies Office, U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral & Social Sciences, Fort Belvoir, VA
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2008 – 2013: Team Leader / Research Psychologist, U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral & Social Sciences, Fort Leavenworth, KS
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2002 – 2008: Research Psychologist, U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral & Social Sciences, Fort Leavenworth, KS
Awards and Honors
Meritorious Civilian Service Award (2025)
Superior Civilian Service Award (2015, 2013)
Army Research and Development Achievement Award (2008)
PUBLICATIONS
Zbylut, M. R. (2013). Cross-cultural influence and the advising mission: Empirical findings and the way ahead. In R. Greene Sands and A. Greene-Sands (Eds.), Cross-cultural competence for a twenty-first-century military: Culture, the flipside of COIN (pp. 211-230). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Zbylut, M. R., Metcalf, K. A., McGowan, B., Beemer, M., Brunner, J. M., & Vowels, C. L.
(2009). The human dimension of advising: An analysis of interpersonal, linguistic, cultural, and advisory aspects of the advisor role. (ARI Technical Report No. 1248). Arlington, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Phelps, C. E., Zbylut, M. R., & Brunner, J. (2009, Mar). Selecting and training U.S. advisors: Interpersonal skills and the advisor-counterpart relationship. Marine Corps Gazette, 51-54.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS
The American Psychological Association
The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Academy of Management
(Current as of [May 2025])