Boeing announced Ted Colbert as president and chief executive officer of its Defense, Space and Security business. Colbert succeeds Leanne Caret who is retiring following nearly 35 years of exceptional service with The Boeing Company. Stephanie Pope has been appointed as president and CEO of Boeing Global Services (BGS), succeeding Colbert.
“We are grateful for Leanne’s dedicated service and I’d like to thank her for her outstanding contributions to our industry, our customers, our company and our employees over her extraordinary career at Boeing,” said Dave Calhoun, Boeing President and CEO.
As president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security (BDS), Colbert will oversee all aspects of the company’s business unit that provides technology, products and solutions for defense, government, space, intelligence, and security customers worldwide. BDS had 2021 revenue of $26 billion.
“Throughout his career, Ted Colbert has consistently brought technical excellence and strong and innovative leadership to every position he has held,” said Calhoun. “Under his leadership, BGS has assembled an excellent leadership team focused on delivering safe and high-quality services for our defense and commercial customers. His leadership track record and current experience supporting the defense services portfolio ideally position Ted to lead BDS.”
Ted Colbert Biography
Ted Colbert joined Boeing in 2009 and has been serving as president and CEO of Boeing Global Services, where he has been responsible for leading the company’s aerospace services development and delivery model for commercial, government and aviation industry customers worldwide, focusing on global supply chain and parts distribution, aircraft modifications and maintenance, digital solutions, aftermarket engineering, analytics and training. Prior to that role, he served as chief information officer (CIO) and senior vice president of Information Technology & Data Analytics. In 2022, The Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) named Colbert Black Engineer of the Year, the organization’s top honor. Colbert completed the Dual Degree Engineering Program at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse College with degrees in Industrial and Systems Engineering and Interdisciplinary Science.
WASHINGTON — Boeing announced Monday Ted Colbert, who heads Boeing Global Services, will take over the company’s $26 billion defense unit at the end of the week.
Leanne Caret, the president and chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, will retire later this year. Until then, Caret will serve as executive vice president and senior adviser to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun as part of the transition process.
In a release, Calhoun thanked Caret for her service at Boeing. She began working for the company in 1988, and has led its defense unit since 2016.
“We are grateful for Leanne’s dedicated service and I’d like to thank her for her outstanding contributions to our industry, our customers, our company and our employees over her extraordinary career at Boeing,” Calhoun said.
Colbert has been at Boeing since 2009. Before being named chief executive of global services in 2019, Colbert served as Boeing’s chief information officer.
“Throughout his career, Ted Colbert has consistently brought technical excellence and strong and innovative leadership to every position he has held,” Calhoun said in the release. “Under his leadership, [Boeing Global Services] has assembled an excellent leadership team focused on delivering safe and high-quality services for our defense and commercial customers. His leadership track record and current experience supporting the defense services portfolio ideally position Ted to lead” Boeing Defense.
Stephanie Pope, who is chief financial officer at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, will be the new head of Boeing Global Services, overseeing aerospace services for commercial, government and aviation industry customers and focusing on supply chain and parts distribution, among other areas.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
Bernie Dunn is president of Boeing Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META). He is responsible for coordinating all companywide activities in the region and developing and implementing country and regional strategies. Dunn focuses on government affairs, new business and industrial partnership opportunities, corporate citizenship projects, expanding the Boeing presence and strengthening company relationships with customers and other stakeholders. He is based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and reports to Michael Arthur, president of Boeing International.
Dunn joined Boeing in 2012 as president of Boeing Turkey and North Africa. He was based at the Boeing Turkey headquarters in Ankara and successfully led the company’s government affairs and activities in Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
In May 2015, Dunn was named president of Boeing Middle East. Several months later, Boeing expanded his leadership role to include Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT). In November 2020, his role was expanded further to include Sub Sahara Africa.
Dunn has more than 30 years of extensive experience with the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, nearly all of it involving living and working in the region, and he is fluent in Arabic. Before joining Boeing, Dunn was vice president, Middle East/Africa, Business Development, for ITT Defense International. In this role, he was responsible for coordinating and overseeing marketing and business development activities across all business units of ITT Defense in a region stretching from Morocco to Afghanistan and including the entire African continent. He had served in this position since November 2002.
Before joining ITT Defense & Information Solutions, he was a career officer in the U.S. Army. He served in a variety of infantry command and staff positions in Germany and the United States and entered the Army’s Foreign Area Officer program in 1982.
After completing Arabic language training and a master’s degree in national security affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif., Dunn served in a variety of positions in the Middle East. Key subsequent assignments include service as the U.S. Army attaché in Jordan from 1992 to 1994, Defense and Army attaché in Syria from 1997 to 2000, and Defense and Army attaché to Saudi Arabia from June 2000 until June 2002.