Meet Gretchen

Ms. McClain is a highly accomplished global executive whose extensive leadership across diverse industries, including aerospace and industrial technology, uniquely positions her to contribute highly technical and strategic insight to the Board. Her engineering expertise coupled with her business acumen advances Booz Allen’s mission to accelerate into more clear and proven growth vectors.

Her leadership experience successfully navigating through corporate moments of change, such as spin-offs and organizational transformation – in both public and private companies – provides critical perspectives to the Board’s oversight capabilities.   

Ms. McClain’s distinguished career has spanned across various industries, leveraging her leadership expertise and engineering background. Most recently, she served as the chief executive officer and president of J.M. Huber Corporation, a private company managing a portfolio of businesses providing industrial products and engineered material solutions, from April 2022 until December 2025. Previously, she served as an operating executive for the Carlyle Group from July 2019 to March 2022. She was the founding president and chief executive officer of Xylem Inc. from October 2011, when it was formed and taken public from the spinoff of ITT Corporation’s water business, until September 2013, having joined ITT in 2005 as the president of the company’s residential and commercial water business.

Earlier in her career, Ms. McClain held senior executive positions at Honeywell Aerospace, in the company’s Business, General Aviation, and Helicopters Electronics as well as the Engines, Systems, and Services divisions. Ms. McClain also spent nine years with NASA serving as deputy associate administrator for space development, where she played a pivotal role in the successful development and launch of the International Space Station Program as chief director of the space station and deputy director for space flight.

Ms. McClain is a seasoned executive business leader with deep expertise in leading organizations through significant transformations and creating value during periods of growth and contracting markets. She provides the Board with senior strategic leadership experience, including complex engineering and technical expertise, in-depth merger and acquisition experience, large scale program management, and global shareholder relations.  Her extensive experience managing global operations,  hands-on roles in aerospace,  space development and the commercial sectors and service on other public company boards enable her to provide unique insights on various aspects of the Company’s risk management and governance and amplify her impact as the Chair of the Compensation, Culture and People Committee, and a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and the Executive Committee.