Dr. Grant received her BA from Wellesley College in 1985 and a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics, University of London, in 1989. Her first job was with RAND in Santa Monica, California, where she worked on missile proliferation, analyzing Operation Just Cause in Panama, and other projects for Army, Air Force and Office of the Secretary of Defense sponsors.

From 1991 to 1992 she worked directly for Secretary of the Air Force Donald B. Rice and from 1993 to 1994, for Air Force Chief of Staff General Tony McPeak in his operations group. Her portfolio included strategic nuclear force reductions, the B-2 program and Air Force logistics and depot maintenance cost restructuring. In 1994, she led General McPeak's personal staff research team in the Air Force roles and missions project.

Among Dr. Grant's professional research interests are joint doctrine and air power employment in joint campaigns. She has lectured at Air University and Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base and is a frequent guest speaker on airpower at venues ranging from business groups to active-duty Air Force units. She is the author of The First 600 Days of Combat, an official Air Force report on the war on terrorism, The B-2 Goes to War (2001) and The Radar Game (1999) as well as magazine articles on aspects of air and space power. Dr. Grant is also a fellow of the Eaker Institute for Aerospace Concepts, the public policy and research arm of the Air Force Association, and has appeared on TV as an expert on airpower.

She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, her motorcycle and a 1967 Pontiac convertible.