Alion Science and Technology has appointed Steve Schorer as its new president and CEO, following the retirement of its previous CEO Bahman Atefi.
Schorer has had a long career in the aerospace and defense industry, having held leadership positions with DynCorp, DynAviation, L-3 Communications, DRS Technologies and Camber Corp. His tenure officially begins May 19, while Atefi, who has served as Alion’s president and CEO since 2002, will be vice chairman of the company’s board of directors going forward, according to Alion.
“Under Bahman’s leadership, Alion has built a tremendous reputation as a trusted partner of the federal government and a deep bench of highly skilled engineers and advanced capabilities that position it well for continued success,” Schorer said. “I am honored to join the company as CEO. I look forward to working with the team at Alion to capitalize on the many exciting growth opportunities ahead.”
Schorer was president of DynCorp from 2011 to 2013 and returned to DynCorp to serve as president of DynAviation from 2015 to 2016. He began his career at DynCorp in 2009, when he served as president of Global Platform Support Solutions. Before joining DynCorp, Schorer was president of the Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence Segment within DRS Technologies, from 2003 to 2008, and was president and general manager of the Ocean Systems Division within L-3 Communications, from 1998 to 2003.
Mark HuYoung of Northwind Partners praised the appointment Thursday, saying Schorer had earned valuable experience in both growth and turnaround scenarios for private-equity owned and publicly-held entities over his nearly four decades in the aerospace a defense industry.
“[H]e’s well positioned to take the torch from Bahman and lead Alion through the next stage of growth,” HuYoung said. “Steve is a consummate professional, a strong strategic mind and communicator, and well respected by customers, leaders and executives in the market. I’m excited to see him in this role.”
Veritas Capital, which has held Alion as a portfolio company since 2015, said it was excited to welcome Schorer to the team.
“Steve brings an exceptional 30-year track record running high-growth businesses within the government services, defense electronics, aerospace, and aviation markets,” said Ramzi Musallam, CEO and managing partner of Veritas Capital. “He is a strategic leader with tremendous experience delivering technology solutions and services in our end markets.”
Musallam also said Veritas was happy to retain Bahman in a different capacity following his retirement as CEO.
“Bahman’s leadership and vision have helped Alion grow from a newly independent organization in 2002 to a leading provider of engineering solutions and services to defense agencies globally,” Musallam said. “We appreciate the significant contributions that Bahman has made over nearly two decades at Alion and its predecessor organization IIT Research Institute (IITRI) and are pleased that Alion will continue to benefit from his insights and experience as he takes on his new role as vice chairman.”