Stu Shea

Stu Shea is an American business executive in the national security and intelligence sector. He is best known for serving as chairman and chief executive officer of Peraton, and for his previous leadership roles at Leidos and Science Applications International Corporation. Shea is also a co-founder of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.

Early life and education

Shea was born in Queens, New York, and attended Mineola High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in geological sciences from the University at Albany, SUNY in 1979 and a Master of Arts in geography from the University of Kansas in 1983.
In 2022, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from George Mason University.

Career

Shea began his career in 1982 as a software engineer at Rome Research Corporation, working on computer mapping applications for U.S. intelligence and defense agencies. He later held technical and management roles at PAR Government Systems Corporation and The Analytic Sciences Corporation, which underwent a series of corporate acquisitions through the 1990s and early 2000s. After Northrop Grumman acquired TASC’s parent company Litton Industries in 2001, Shea became vice president and general manager of its Space and Intelligence Business Unit.
In 2005, Shea joined Science Applications International Corporation, where he led the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group. He was appointed chief operating officer in 2012, and led the separation of SAIC into two public companies, Leidos and a restructured SAIC. Shea became president and COO of Leidos following the separation and served until 2014.
In 2017 was named Chief Executive Officer of MHVC Acquisition Corp, a government services contractor owned by Veritas Capital. The company was subsequently rebranded as Peraton, where Shea served as chairman and CEO from 2017 to 2024.

Honors and awards

Shea was named a Fellow of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping in 1997. In 2009, he received the Federal 100 Award from Federal Computer Week. He was awarded the Intelligence Community Seal Medallion in 2016 by the Director of National Intelligence. In 2018, Shea was inducted into the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s GEOINT Hall of Fame. He has also been a multiple-time recipient of the Executive Mosaic Wash100 Award.

Board service

Shea has served on a variety of industry, government, and academic advisory boards, including:

1996 Member, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council (United States), Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems, Marine Board
1997–1999 Director , Cartography and Geographic Information Society
1990–2000 Member, editorial board, Urban and Regional Information Systems Association
2003 Member, National Commission for the Review of the Research and Development Programs of the United States Intelligence Community
2003–2005 Member, advisory board, University of Virginia Department of Systems and Information Engineering
2004–2014 Chairman of the board, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation
2012–2013 Member, advisory board, Intelligence and National Security Alliance
2012–2015 Member, advisory board, University of Kansas, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
2013–2014 Member, board of trustees, Shakespeare Theatre Company
2013–present Member, advisory board, National Intelligence University Foundation
2014–2020 Member and later Chairman, Senior Advisory Group, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
2015–present Member, board of trustees, Riverside Research
2016–2017 Member, board of directors, Applied Research Solutions
2017–2021 Member, board of directors, Fornetix
2017–2024 Chairman of the board, Peraton
2023–present Member, advisory board, AFCEA Intelligence Committee