Battelle has picked the chief executive officer of DynCorp International, Lewis “Lou” Von Thaer, as its next president and CEO. He will be only the ninth chief executive in the company’s 87-year-history.
Battelle plays a substantial management role at six Department of Energy national laboratories: Brookhaven, Idaho, Lawrence Livermore, National Renewable Energy, Oak Ridge, and Pacific Northwest.
Von Thaer will succeed Jeff Wadsworth on Oct. 1. Wadsworth is retiring after continuing as CEO and president two years past his original retirement date to ensure strength of operations, implementation of a long-term growth strategy, and an orderly succession planning process, according to Battelle. Wadsworth has been CEO since January 2009 and will help Von Thaer with the transition through the end of 2017.
Before leading government services provider DynCorp for two years, Von Thaer was president of Leidos’ National Security Sector for about two years. He also worked for General Dynamics for 16 years, including as a corporate officer. “He is an innovative problem solver who brings nearly 35 years of engineering and management experience in technology development and deployment to solve complex national security and societal issues,” Wadsworth said in a press statement. “Lou has led large organizations and helped them succeed in rapidly changing environments.”
