K. Stuart "Stu" Shea (born January 9, 1957) is an American business executive and leader and intelligence professional serving in a leadership capacity to public and private companies, as well as an advisor to government agencies, private equity investors, and academic institutions. Shea is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Peraton, a national security technology company. He is the former president and chief operating officer of Leidos, chief operating officer of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and founder and emeritus chairman of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.
Early life and education
Shea was born in New York, the son of Katherine Rea (née Hahn) and Kenneth Francis Shea. He attended Mineola High School, and excelled in both academics and sports, graduating in the top 21 of his class and earning seven varsity letters in football (center/defensive guard), lacrosse (goalie), and rifle. He was the captain of the rifle team and was one of the top high school marksmen in the country.
Shea received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letter from George Mason University in 2022, Master of Arts degree in geography from the University of Kansas in 1983, and his Bachelor of Science degree in geological sciences from the State University of New York at Albany in 1979. He has also attended several executive development programs, including University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Harvard Business School, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and George Washington University School of Business.
Career
Shea started his career in national security in 1982 at Rome Research Corporation as a software engineer, designing some of the earliest implementations of computer mapping for the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, US Air Force, Defense Mapping Agency and others. From 1982 to 1987, Shea served as senior staff member and technical director, digital cartography for PAR Government Systems Corporation, leading advanced computer mapping research in cartographic generalization, automated character recognition, and cartographic applications for tactical and strategic systems. He joined The Analytic Sciences Corporation (TASC, Inc.) in 1987, serving as member of the technical staff, section manager, department manager and program manager until the acquisition of TASC by Primark Corporation in 1991. From 1991 to 1998, he served as the director, imagery and geospatial systems. When Litton Industries acquired TASC, he then served as senior vice president and strategic business unit director, information management. With the acquisition of Litton by Northrop Grumman in 2001, Shea served as vice president as the general manager, Space and Intelligence Business Unit.[4]
In 2005, Shea joined Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) (NYSE: SAI), and led the National Security Space Business Unit and the Space & Geospatial Intelligence Business Unit. In 2007, he was named as the president of the Intelligence, Security and Technology Group, renamed in 2010 to the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group. Shea led SAIC's support to the National Security Community. With nearly 13,000 employees and over $4B in revenues, his group provided technology services and products for customers across the full spectrum of national security programs, including: cyber-security; human intelligence (HUMINT), intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR); signals intelligence (SIGINT); geospatial intelligence (GEOINT); support to special operations forces (SOF); intelligence analysis; linguistics; offense and defensive counter-space; and the development of technologies to support the fight against global terrorism.
In 2012, Shea was named chief operating officer of SAIC, an $11B FORTUNE 500® scientific, engineering, and technology company. Shea was the principal architect and has been credited with leading the corporate split of Science Applications International Corporation into Leidos (NYSE: LDOS) and the new SAIC (NYSE: SAIC) as two publicly traded companies when he served as the chief operating officer of SAIC. During that time, Shea led a team of 40,000 employees across 400 locations worldwide.
After the separation, Shea assumed the role of president and chief operating officer of Leidos, a $6B scientific, engineering, and technology company in national security, cybersecurity, engineering, and health. In the fall of 2012, Shea was considered a favorite to succeed Leidos chief executive officer John P. Jumper. In the spring of 2014, he resigned as COO.