Duane Andrews appointed board chairman at Accelera

Defense sector veteran Duane Andrews will chair the board of directors at cloud and digital services outfit Accelera Solutions.

Long-time defense sector veteran Duane Andrews has been appointed chairman of the board of directors at Fairfax, Va.-based cloud and digital services contractor Accelera Solutions.

Andrews will work with the board and Accelera’s management team to identify potential acquisitions, he said in a company release Wednesday. He also is on the board of directors at Inmarsat Government and the Stimson Center, as well as chairman of the boards at Global Integrity and Smiths Detection.

His career in industry covers seven years as CEO of QinetiQ North America that culminated in his 2013 retirement and the 13 years prior to QNA at the pre-split Science Applications International Corp.

QNA -- the U.S. arm of British defense contractor QinetiQ -- acquired and integrated 15 companies under Andrews’ leadership from 2006-2013 and grew to at least $1 billion in annual revenue.

Andrews was SAIC’s chief operating officer in his final year at the government services contractor, which grew its federal business from $1 billion to $7 billion in annual sales during his career there.

Before he joined the private sector, Andrews served in the Pentagon for four years as assistant defense secretary for command, control, communications and intelligence plus chief information officer. Andrews is also a 10-year Air Force veteran and after that held a professional staff role at the House Intelligence Committee for 12 years.

His civilian government awards include the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service and the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal.