Stefan Hansen
Lufthansa Systems named Stefan Hansen as CEO and chairman of the Executive Board for a three-year term. He will succeed Wolfgang F. W. Gohde. Hansen began his career in 1990 as a project engineer for process automation at Siemens AG in Hamburg, Germany, before working two years as the manager of Technical Systems & Operations at the Unilever subsidiary Lever GmbH. Hansen also worked at Körber AG, Hauni Maschinenbau AG, Körber PaperLink, Lufthansa Systems Infratec GmbH, Lufthansa Systems Network GmbH, EDS Operations Services GmbH and Vodafone Deutschland.
Larry Kellner
Former Continental Airlines CEO Larry Kellner joined the board of directors of Row 44, of Westlake Village, Calif. During Kellner’s 15-year tenure at Continental he was first chief finanacial officer, then president and ultimately CEO for his final five years at the airline. Kellner also serves on the board of Marriott International.
Michael Sheehan
Thales Communications appointed Michael Sheehan CEO and president. Thales Communications manufactures software-defined, radio equipment and systems for the ground, naval, airborne and homeland security domains. Sheehan brings more than 25 years of industry experience to Thales. He most recently served as a senior executive with the Cobham Avionics business. He has held positions with DRS Technologies, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. He began his career as an RF design engineer for RCA Corp.
Carl Williamson
SRA International, based in Fairfax, Va., appointed retired Col. Carl Williamson as a vice president, responsible for collaborative planning, organization and execution of U.S. Air Force account and campaign plans. Williamson comes to SRA after 29 years of service in the U.S Air Force. He held various assignments in the Air Force, serving with Space Command, Air Combat Command, Communications Command, Material Command, Secretary of the Air Force staff and the U.S. Central Command.
Brad Hayden
Aspen Avionics, based in Albuquerque, N.M., promoted Brad Hayden to vice president of marketing. Before joining Aspen Avionics in 2004, Hayden held a variety of positions managing global, high-tech marketing programs for companies such as US Robotics, 3Com and Informix. Immediately prior to Aspen, he directed Global Outbound Marketing for EFI, a digital print technology provider. Hayden is also a private pilot working at this writing on his instrument rating.
Darby Shields
Teledyne Controls, of El Segundo, Calif., appointed Darby Shields vice president of sales and marketing. Shields, former president of Demo Systems for 27 years, joined Teledyne as vice president of the Data Loading Solutions product line in 2009 when Teledyne Controls acquired the assets of his company.
Melissa Maddox
StandardAero, of Tempe, Ariz., named Melissa Maddox as vice president, operations for the company’s Business Aviation sector. Maddox has held a variety of roles in the company during her 14-year tenure, most recently as vice president, Global Security & Risk Assurance and previously finance director in the sector.
Sid Ashworth
GE Aviation named Sid Ashworth vice president of its Washington, D.C. operations. Ashworth has more than 25 years experience in the legislative and executive government branches. She spent 14 years as a professional staff member with the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations and served as the Majority and Minority staff directors of the Defense Subcommittee and Majority and Minority staff director of the Military Construction Subcommittee. Ashworth also worked as a civilian in the Department of the Army for nine years and was focused on resource management and force structure and strategy. Most recently, she was principal of the Ashworth Group, a consulting firm providing advisory and business development services in the defense, aerospace and intelligence industries.
Metron Aviation Appointments
Metron Aviation, based in Dulles, Va., named former FAA Administrator Jane Garvey to its board of directors. Garvey is the chairman of Meridiam Investment Fund North America and recently served on the Obama administration’s transition team, advising on transportation policies. Before that, Garvey headed the U.S. public/private partnerships at JPMorgan.
Additionally, Metron Aviation named Mark Gaffney director of Advanced Support. In this role, he will manage Metron’s support of NextGen programs near FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J. Gaffney joins Metron Aviation from Lockheed Martin, where he spent the past six years managing transportation security and environmental programs. During his tenure there, Gaffney was director of ATM Laboratories at the FAA Technical Center.
Mike Johnson
Ballard Technology, of Everett, Wash., named Mike Johnson regional sales manager for the northeastern United States and Canada. Johnson has more than 25 years of experience in avionics and aerospace engineering, product management and sales, most recently with Sensitron.