Mike Thirtle

Mike is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bethesda, a faith-based, non-profit organization that provides housing, employment, transportation and healthcare supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the U.S.

Before joining Bethesda, he worked for the RAND Corporation in various roles for 12 years, including Director of the RAND office at Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. Before his years with RAND, Thirtle was Director of Consulting for the National Data Corporation in Chicago and a Senior Consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Los Angeles.

Thirtle is a proud veteran and retired member of the U.S. Air Force, where he served as an active duty and reserve officer for more than two decades. He graduated with military distinction—in the top one percent of his class— with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in Spanish from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In addition, Thirtle holds several advanced degrees, including doctoral and a master’s degrees in policy analysis, both from the RAND Graduate School in Santa Monica, California. Thirtle also has master’s degrees in finance and economics, both from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He has attended Executive Leadership Programs at both the Stanford Business School and the Harvard Business School.