SAIC picks Beyster successor

J. Robert Beyster will hand over the reins of Science Applications International Corp. next month to Kenneth Dahlberg, executive vice president of the information systems and technology group at General Dynamics Corp.Beyster, 79, announced in April that he would resign as chief executive officer of the company he founded and has led for 34 years. He will remain chairman of San Diego-based SAIC until July, when the board of directors holds elections.Dahlberg, 58, takes over from Beyster as CEO Nov. 3. "We believe that Ken Dahlberg has the leadership qualities needed in a CEO to execute our strategic vision for the SAIC of the future, and he has demonstrated to the board that he has the understanding and appreciation of how important our employee-ownership culture is to SAIC and its employees," Beyster said in a statement. The company's directors unanimously approved Dahlberg's selection. Dahlberg said he was honored to be selected. "SAIC is legendary in the industry, and the employee-owners in this company are known for their technical prowess and commitment to supporting customers on very complex technical problems," he said in a statement. Before joining General Dynamics of Falls Church, Va., Dahlberg served as executive vice president for business development at Raytheon Co. of Lexington, Mass., and as president of its Raytheon International Inc. subsidiary. Dahlberg had been a corporate vice president of Hughes Electronics Corp. and a senior vice president of Hughes Aircraft Company before the 1997 merger of Raytheon and Hughes Aircraft Co. Dahlberg joined Hughes in 1967 and held various engineering, program management and leadership positions.