About

About Me

Stephen Maranian, a major general in the U.S. Army, is an accomplished senior executive. His service as one of the most respected leaders and change agents in two significant mission areas – international defense partnerships and strategy and leader development/professional military education at accredited schools – has hallmarked his superb servant leader career. Steve’s expertise is consistently sought after to solve complex organizational problems.

With global defense expertise honed over 17 years spent in Europe, Africa, and Asia, including deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait, Steve has been the “go-to” choice for many challenging assignments calling for his coalition-building expertise with international defense partners or his innate skill at transforming organizations. He develops collaborative partnerships while applying operations leadership and business acumen to create, develop and execute an enterprise vision, strategy and tactics. A driver of change, Steve draws on a superb record of success as a leader and master communicator to build resilient, high-performing teams whose actions are informed by a strong sense of values and ethical behavior.

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

In his current role, Steve Maranian is the Commanding General 56th Artillery Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa, headquartered in Mainz-Kastel, Germany. He was chosen as the first commander of this senior regional (Europe/Africa) organization, building the organization from fewer than 100 soldiers towards a projected end strength of thousands with several sub-components. He oversees an annual budget and current/planned infrastructure contracts valued at $10s millions. In a concurrent advisory role with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allied nations, he consults with and advises peer and senior leaders on strategy and tactics in both artillery and effects, such as information, cyber, space, and electronic warfare.

Steve Maranian served in several high-profile positions throughout his career, achieving significant impacts as a leader, often chosen to lead and modernize centers of educational excellence. Most notably, he was the Commandant (President) of the Army War College, an accredited Master’s degree-granting institution, where he innovated new teaching approaches and curriculum change to optimize and tailor individual learning experiences. As the Provost at Army University, Steve successfully led the initiative to gain accreditation to confer Master’s degrees to all students graduating from the Command and General Staff Officers Course, as well as a Bachelor’s degree program for the Sergeants Major Academy.

Known for his ability to build new organizations from the ground up, Steve develops unique executable solutions, recognizes and fully develops the talents and potential of more junior leaders, builds necessary relationships to implement change, and delivers the leadership and management experience to drive a new enterprise vision. He looks forward to taking his expertise to new challenges in the future.

EDUCATION

Steve Maranian holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Bucknell University, an Army War College M.S. in National Security and Strategic Studies, an M.A. in Human Resources Development from Webster University, and a graduate of the Greek language course at the Defense Language Institute. He was also a Chief of Staff of the Army Research Fellow at the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy. His achievements have been recognized by numerous personal and unit awards during his career.

PERSONAL LIFE

Steve and his wife Cynthia are avid travelers and enjoy experiencing foreign cultures. They are the proud uncle and aunt of 8 great nieces and nephews.