William Shernit served as President and Chief Executive of Intelsat General Corporation, the largest provider of commercial satellite communications to the department of defense and the military services, contractors, international military partners and intelligence agencies that are key to U.S national security.
Mr. Shernit was asked to apply his more than 40 years of experience to structure, lead and mentor a core management team to develop a sustaining growth strategy that delivers year-over-year top and bottom line growth. Within 18 months, prior, current and next-year revenue were set on a growth trend linked to a balanced strategy that blends current, on-orbit capabilities; complex solutions that integrate satellite and ground segment infrastructures; and new payloads that augment current missions or demonstrate future concepts. Intelsat General now has the strategy and management team for the future.
Previously, Mr. Shernit served as President of BAE Systems Information Technology. During his 17 year tenure, he and his team delivered continuous year-over-year, profitable growth that on average exceeded 30% per year derived from organic initiatives and the completion of three acquisitions. Over the same period, the number of BAE-IT employees grew from fewer than 200 to over 4500. In 2006, Computerworld ranked BAE Systems IT as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in IT.
Earlier, Mr. Shernit spent 13 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, serving in the Office of Development and Engineering, the Office of Research and Development, heading Technical Collection in the Office of SIGINT Operations and serving as the Executive Officer of the Directorate of Science and Technology. He left CIA to join Perkin-Elmer Corporation’s Government Systems Sector as vice president for business development. In this capacity, he was responsible for defining new business strategies, plans and acquisitions. Mr. Shernit served on Perkin-Elmer’s Government Systems Policy Formulation Board and was a member of the Board of Directors of Perkin-Elmer’s subsidiary, MRJ. He began his career with TRW’s Electronic Warfare Laboratory. Responsibilities extended from detailed electronic circuit and subsystem design to system simulation and intelligence analysis.
Mr. Shernit holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in electrical engineering from Cornell University where he was a Sloan scholar and member of the Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies. He has completed executive seminars at the Wharton School of Business and Duke University’s executive program. He currently serves on the advisory boards of Criterion Systems, Inc., Data Systems Analysts, Inc., NorthWind Partners, the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) and a special government office. Earlier he served on the boards of both INSA and ITAA’s Enterprise Solutions Division.