AFCEA International Announces The Election Of Alfred Grasso As Chairman Of The Board

FAIRFAX, Va., May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mr. Alfred Grasso, President and Chief Executive Officer, The MITRE Corporation, has been elected to lead AFCEA International. Mr. Grasso will serve as Chairman of the Board and will oversee the Association's Executive Committee and Compensation Committee and participate on the AFCEA Educational Foundation Board of Directors. He succeeds Ms. Natalie Givans, Senior Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton, in this position.

Mr. Grasso has been a long time member of AFCEA and has served as the Vice Chair for the past two years, as well as previously serving on the Association's Executive Committee and Board as well as the Audit and Governance Committees. He is currently the Co-Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.

As president and chief executive officer of MITRE, Mr. Grasso is responsible for developing and leading the non-profit corporation's overall strategic and business operations for five federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs). He is also a member of MITRE's Board of Trustees. Concurrent with his CEO responsibilities, Mr. Grasso also serves as director of MITRE's National Security Engineering Center (NSEC), the FFRDC that the company operates for the Department of Defense.

Under Mr. Grasso's leadership, MITRE has received several prestigious awards recognizing its commitment to public service and technical excellence in a variety of areas, including the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service; the Air Force Association's Theodore von Karman Award; and the National Aeronautic Association's Collier Trophy.

Mr. Grasso has held several leadership and management positions within MITRE since joining the company in 1986, including executive vice president, senior vice president, and general manager of MITRE's Washington Command, Control, and Communications (WC3) Center; vice president and chief information officer; and technical director for the Battlefield Systems Division at MITRE's Fort Monmouth, N.J., operation. He was appointed president and CEO in 2006.

Mr. Grasso was appointed to the Defense Science Board in 2010. He is a special adviser to the STRATCOM Strategic Advisory Group and a member of the Stevens Institute Systems Engineering Research Center Advisory Board, the University of Virginia's Department of Systems and Information Engineering Advisory Board, and Howard University's College of Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Sciences Board of Visitors. In addition, Mr. Grasso is the president of the Board of Directors of the National GEM Consortium, a nonprofit that works to promote the participation of under-represented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers.

Federal Computer Week presented Mr. Grasso with its prestigious Eagle award this spring. He was one of two recipients recognized for making a significant impact on federal IT.

Mr. Grasso earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and his master's degree in computer science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is a graduate of the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School.

"AFCEA International has been able to attract some of the best-of-the-best of leaders in the global security community over our 66-year history," says Kent Schneider, President and CEO, AFCEA International. This has certainly been the case over the past two years with Natalie Givans and Al Grasso as Chair and Vice Chair of the Board. I want to thank Natalie for her guidance and leadership. We look forward to the next two years with Al as Chairman. Al Grasso is a talented and accomplished leader in the global security community whose guiding hand will be critical as we seek to contribute in a period of global unrest and economic challenge. I welcome the opportunity to work with Al as we continue to grow and serve."

In acknowledging his election, Mr. Grasso said, "It is my privilege to lead and partner with the AFCEA community. I look forward to working with colleagues and members to continue the association's vital efforts to facilitate communication among defense professionals working across sectors to support our armed forces, strengthen global security, and educate the next generation of technical talent."

AFCEA International, established in 1946, is a non-profit membership association serving the military, government, industry, and academia as an ethical forum for advancing professional knowledge and relationships in the fields of communications, IT, intelligence, and global security. For more information visit www.afcea.org.

SOURCE AFCEA International