President and Chief Executive Officer, Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc.
John Hillen is the President and CEO of Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc., a publicly traded American defense, intelligence, and homeland security company. Global Defense Technology provides sophisticated counter-terrorism, C4ISR, defense technology, engineering, and force modernization solutions to US government agencies in the national security, domestic security, and intelligence communities.
From 2005 – 2007, Hillen served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs in the Bush administration. In that capacity he was the senior State department official responsible for coordinating America’s diplomatic strategy with its military operations. He was also responsible for overseeing the department’s policies in the areas of international security, security assistance, military operations, weapons removal and abatement, and defense trade. He was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate.
Prior to his appointment, Hillen served in the private sector as the President of a subsidiary of a large publicly traded technology company. He has also been the head of a $415 million industry group at another publicly listed technology firm and was the Chief Operating Officer of a financial services firm in New York City. He is an executive committee member of the board of the Professional Services Council and the non-executive Chairman of Ericsson Federal Inc. A longtime member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), he is also a trustee of the Committee on Economic Development in Washington, the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, Hampden-Sydney College, and is a member of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel, a federal advisory commission for the head of the US Navy.
Prior to his business career, Hillen worked as a military policy expert and also served for twelve years as an Army officer. He is the author or editor of several books on international security and has been published in dozens of leading journals and newspapers. During his time in the Army, Hillen was a reconnaissance and special operations officer in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He has been decorated for his actions in combat.
Hillen graduated from Duke University, holds a Master’s Degree from King’s College London, a doctorate from Oxford, and received his MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell.
