Emily Murphy

Senior Fellow, Center for Government Contracting

The School Of Business, George Mason University

Emily W. Murphy is a leading expert in government contracting and the business of government. Throughout her career, Emily has held multiple leadership roles in the federal government, including serving as Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration. Currently, she is a Senior Fellow with the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University Business School, where she provides thought leadership and research on procurement issues. Additionally, she consults with government contractors through her company, Government Procurement Strategies, LLC. She serves on the Boards of Advisors for SkillStorm and Vita Inclinata and is a Board Advisor to Fortress Information Security. Emily is an independent director for Medical Properties Trust, a publicly traded REIT.

Emily served as the GSA Administrator from 2017 to 2021, leading a workforce of more than 11,000 federal employees, and overseeing 371 million square feet of office space and $75 billion in annual contracts. As Administrator, Emily increased GSA’s sales by 36%, from $55 billion to
$75 billion, increased retained earnings by $8.2 billion, and saved customer agencies $21.6 billion. She led GSA through both the longest government shutdown in history and the COVID pandemic, each of which posed substantial challenges for federal buildings, land ports of entry, and court houses. Under her leadership, GSA had the highest customer, vendor, and employee satisfaction scores in the history of the agency.

Prior to being confirmed as Administrator, Emily served as the Senior Advisor at GSA and oversaw the merger of the Federal Acquisition Service and the Technology Transformation Service. During the administration of President George W. Bush, Emily was appointed as GSA’s first Chief Acquisition Officer from 2005 to 2007. In that role, she was responsible for more than
$40 billion in acquisition programs. Emily also served at the U.S. Small Business Administration from 2004 to 2005 as the Senior Advisor for Government Contracting and Business Development, and as Acting Associate Administrator for Government Contracting.

In addition to her seven years of senior roles in the Executive Branch, Emily spent nine years serving in various procurement policy and leadership roles for the House of Representatives. She served as Counsel and Professional Staff Member to the Committee on Armed Services, negotiating acquisition and industrial base provisions in the annual defense authorization bill. She also held Senior Counsel and Policy Director roles for the Committee on Small Business from 2011-2016, where she directed the legislative and oversight agenda of the Committee. Emily previously worked for the Committee from 1997-2000, focusing on government contracts matters, disaster loan policy, and telecommunications issues. During her tenure with Congress, Emily drafted numerous contracting reform provisions that ultimately became law.

In the private sector, Emily was the General Counsel and Vice President for Operations for TerreStar National Services Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of TerreStar Networks, which operated integrated satellite and terrestrial telecommunications systems. She also practiced government contracts law with Wiley LLC from 2001 to 2003.

Emily is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and Smith College. She is a member of the Young Presidents Organization, the Economic Club of Washington DC, and the Chief Executives Organization.

Event Participation