Marie‑Michelle Strah
Marie‑Michelle Strah, PhD, volunteered for the United States Navy Reserve in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks.
In 2005, Dr. Strah transferred to the Regular Army as a directly commissioned Medical Service Corps officer, leading theater‑wide digital transformation and force realignment initiatives in response to evolving operational demands.
Dr. Strah earned her Master’s degrees and doctorate at Cornell University, and she built a career focused on cybersecurity, cybercrime, and online extremist threats.
After multiple traumatic incidents, including three brain injuries, Dr. Strah was discharged in late 2008 as a Second Lieutenant and redirected her work toward improving outcomes for fellow veterans.
She served as the IT lead for the initial outfitting and transition of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury at the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, advancing digital health, logistics, and mobile solutions that helped shape the integrated DoD/VA Polytrauma Network.
After returning to New York for polytrauma rehabilitation, Dr. Strah pursued graduate coursework and teaching at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice under the GI Bill. A nationally recognized disability justice advocate, she received the CUNY Passantino Students with Disabilities Scholarship and the John Jay Graduate Achievement Award for triumph over extreme adversity, and she was inducted into the Delta Alpha International Honor Society for Disabled Individuals.
Dr. Strah’s teaching and innovation were recognized with the John Jay College Digital Innovation Faculty Award, the Distinguished Teaching Prize, and selection as Provost Digital Faculty Fellow. Dr. Strah continued to support other veterans with service‑related disabilities, providing pro bono help to hundreds of veterans filing claims related to military sexual trauma.
Currently, she volunteers as a yoga and meditation instructor with Veterans Yoga Project in New York City. Since 2023, Dr. Strah has received awards for photography, fiber art, and music through the VA National Creative Arts Competition at VA New York Harbor.
A passionate advocate for the power of adaptive sports, she participates with Team HOPE (Hope for the Warriors) and as a Warfighter Ambassador for Move United she mentors other veterans in their adaptive sports and prosthetics journeys.
