Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: THOMAS A. BELL

In May, Bell became CEO of Leidos, a Fortune 500 defense, aerospace and information technology firm, replacing Roger Krone, who retired that month as CEO and board chairman after nine years leading Leidos.

Bell began his aerospace career at Lockheed Martin. He came to Leidos from Rolls-Royce North America, where he had been chairman and CEO since 2018, as well as head of the British company’s global defense contracting division. He previously was Boeing’s senior vice president of global sales and marketing for defense, space and security.

Leidos reported $14.4 billion in revenue in fiscal 2022 and employs 45,000 people globally. In January, Leidos won two Social Security Administration IT task orders with a potential combined value of $1.5 billion, and it also was awarded a potential $1.5 billion task order from the Department of Defense in October 2022 to improve technology for its Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) missions.

Bell earned his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology. He serves on the Aerospace Industries Association’s executive committee.