COMPANY

John Shephard

Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy & Corporate Development Officer, Exelis Inc.

John Shephard is Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy & Corporate Development Officer at Exelis Inc., a diversified, top-tier global aerospace, defense and information solutions company. He assumed that role upon the company’s October 2011 spin off from ITT Corporation.

Shephard joined Exelis, then an operating segment of ITT called Defense & Information Solutions, in April 2009 as Vice President, Business Development and Strategy.

Prior to joining ITT he was CEO of Pallas-Athena Group based in Williamsburg, Va., where he provided strategic, financial, and operations consultation to clients. Previously, he was President, Newport News Industrial Corporation and Senior Vice President, Operations, Northrop Grumman-Newport News. Prior to that he served in a variety of leadership roles at Newport News Shipbuilding, Inc., in Newport News, Va., to include Vice President, Manufacturing and Materials; Vice President, Strategy and Process Innovation; and Director, Strategic Planning.

Shephard began his work in industry following a distinguished military career, which included combat duty in Desert Storm, a NASA leadership post and a teaching assignment at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Shephard holds a master’s degree in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the U.S. Military Academy. He was also selected to the prestigious White House Fellow program.

In 1999, the American Society of Engineering Management honored Shephard as Engineering Manager of the Year.