Mari K. Eder

Author, Major General U.S. Army, Retired

Mari K. Eder, retired U.S. Army Major General, is a renowned speaker and author, and a thought leader on strategic communication and leadership. General Eder has served as Director of Public Affairs at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and as an adjunct professor and lecturer in strategic communications and public diplomacy at the NATO School and Sweden’s International Training Command. She served in a number of senior positions in the Pentagon, on the Army Staff, as Deputy Chief of Public Affairs and Deputy Chief of the Army Reserve, and with DoD’s Reserve Forces Policy Board. General Eder speaks and writes frequently on communication topics and has published in USA Today, TIME Magazine, The Hill, and other outlets.

A deeply inspirational book, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line, was released in August 2021. The Library of Virginia awarded it the People’s Choice Award in October 2022. The second book in this series, The Girls Who Fought Crime, was released in August 2023.

In July 2023 Mari K. received the prestigious Daughters of the American Revolution Medal of Honor, and was named as the National Trust for Historic Preservation/Historic Hotels of America 2023 Historian of the Year.

She holds a BA and MA degrees in English from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (now Penn West) and an MS in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, plus an advanced certificate in mass communications from the University of South Carolina. She was awarded a PhD (hon) in Humane Letters from Edinboro in 2013.

When not writing, lecturing, or traveling, she works with rescue groups, fostering rescue dogs.