The CDC Leaders

"The art of leadership is in saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes."

—Tony Blair

Mary I. Lambert, MN, RN

Chief Management Official, Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response

CAPT Mary I. Lambert is the Chief Management Official (CMO) in the Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response (COTPER) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prior to joining COTPER, she served as the deputy CMO for CDC′s Coordinating Center for Health Information and Service.

Her previous assignments include director of the Office of Military Liaison and Veterans Affairs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health, a one-year detail to the White House, and director of the Medical Reserve Corps Program in the Office of the Surgeon General, as well as deployments to the Washington, D.C. area after the events of 9/11 and in response to the subsequent anthrax attacks.

CAPT Lambert served in assignments with the Food and Drug Administration′s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, and in the Health Resources and Services Administration′s Bureau of Primary Health. In addition, CAPT Lambert has served in temporary assignments that included the Ministry of Health as a technical consultant for the Republic of Rwanda. CAPT Lambert previously served on active duty in the United States Army as a preventive medicine service officer.

She received her master′s degree in nursing from Emory University and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. CAPT Lambert is nationally certified as a clinical nurse specialist in community health and in advanced administration. She has also completed the Leadership Fellows program of the Council for Excellence in Government.