Former DynCorp exec Dan Bannister dies
By
Nick Wakeman
Dan Bannister leaves a legacy of business success and community service. His funeral will be held March 18.
Dan Bannister, a longtime leader in the government contracting market, died March 12 after a long illness.
A funeral will be held March 18 at noon at the McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Va. Visitation will take place from 1:00-3:00 p.m. and 5:00-8:00 p.m. March 17 at Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home in Fairfax, Va.
He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.
Bannister is best known as the former chairman, president and CEO of DynCorp, where he had a 52-year career. He helped the company grow from a few million dollars in annual revenue in the early 1950s to $2.4 billion in 2003, when it was sold to Computer Sciences Corp.
He served as president and CEO from 1985 to 1997 and was chairman from 1997 to 2003.
He was chairman emeritus of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. According to the organization’s website, he also served on the boards of Dewberry and Davis, EOD Technology and CACI International. He was chairman of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology from 2008 until his death.
The center's CEO and president, Peter Jobse, said, "The entire CIT board, the secretary of technology and the governor of the commonwealth, we're all mourning the loss of Dan. Not only was he an outstanding technology visionary and executive in our community, but he has a long legacy of terrific leadership both in the private sector as well as in the volunteer community."
"Dan Bannister was an extraordinary leader of our community," said Bobbie Kilberg, president and CEO of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. "He was an exceptional chairman of NVTC, our Equal Footing Foundation and his company DynCorp. Most importantly, Dan was a wonderful person – warm and caring, committed, accomplished and productive. It is hard to imagine our technology community without his gracious presence,” she added.
Bannister was active in community service organizations, including Joe Gibbs' Youth for Tomorrow home for boys and girls and the Army Aviation Association of America's Scholarship Foundation. He served on the boards of Marymount University's School of Business Administration, George Mason University's Volgenau School of Engineering, the U.S. Air Force Academy's Falcon Foundation and the Easter Seals Greater Washington-Baltimore Region.
Bannister received many awards, including the Earle C. Williams Award for Leadership in Technology, the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award, the Best of Reston Man of the Year, the KPMG Peat Marwick High Tech Entrepreneur of the Year, the Junior Achievement Washington Business Hall of Fame Award, and the Greater Washington Government Contractors Hall of Fame Award.
The Bannister family has asked that in lieu of flowers donations be made to Easter Seals; Joe Gibbs’ Youth for Tomorrow; or Equal Footing Foundation.