ATHENIX SOLUTIONS GROUP - Key Persons
Mr. Colabatistto has more than 35 years of experience in the global defense industry, and has held leadership positions in both the military and the private sector.
Prior to Athenix Solutions Group, Mr. Colabatistto was the President of CAE, Defense & Security, growing that business to over $1.4B. Before joining CAE, he was the Senior Vice President in the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Group at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) - a leading provider of scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services, responsible for the growth of their ISR and Cybersecurity businesses. Prior to SAIC, Mr. Colabatistto was President of Olive Group North America, a global, integrated security corporation. Before that Mr. Colabatistto was President of Space Imaging Solutions, the leading provider of satellite imagery products and services. He was also President of SPOT Image Corporation, the North American subsidiary of the world's first commercial provider of satellite imagery. Previously, Mr. Colabatistto spent almost 10 years with Veridian Corporation, responsible for the growth of its engineering products, imagery, and signals intelligence business.
Mr. Colabatistto also served in the United States Marine Corps and was responsible for intelligence information systems and acted as the service's representative for satellite and airborne reconnaissance during Desert Storm.
Mr. Colabatistto has an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University, and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and an M.S. in Systems Management from the University of Southern California (USC). He is a member of the National Defense Intelligence Association (NDIA), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). And, Mr. Colabatistto serves on the National Advisory Council of both the University of Southern California's Viterbi Engineering School and George Washington University's School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Julian M. Setian has more than 25 years of experience in the defense and government services industry. He is the President and CEO of SOSi - a company founded by his mother - the largest founder-owned and operated technology and services integrator in the aerospace, defense, and government services industry. He joined SOSi in 1995, became the CEO in 2001, and, over the past two decades, has grown the company from 100 employees to more than 1,500 employees worldwide turning it into one of the most respected contractors in the defense and national security sector. Under Julian's leadership, SOSi has won more than $3 billion of new contracts and made four major acquisitions, including STG Group Holdings, LLC, a publicly traded company specializing in network operations, cybersecurity, and software development, and Vykin Corporation LLC, a private company specializing in network engineering and intelligence.
Julian also founded and is the Executive Chairman of Exovera LLC, a business that specializes in A.I. enabled open-source data analytics and software and serves on the Board of Directors of two other companies: AppTek LLC, a software company specializing in A.I. driven speech technology, and Makwa Global LLC, a holding company owned by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Tribe of Native Americans.
Over the course of his career, Julian has served in numerous other leadership roles and has been widely recognized for his business achievements and philanthropy. He is currently on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Professional Services Council (PSC) and Board of Directors of Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. He previously served as the Executive Chairman of the Washington DC chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He has also supported several non-profit organizations focused on promoting veteran entrepreneurship - one of his personal passions - including the PenFed Foundation, Bunker Labs, and Dog Tag Bakery. In 2020, he was voted Large Business Executive of the Year by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce. In that same year, Virginia Business Magazine named him one of the 100 most powerful and influential leaders in business, government, politics, and education in the state; and he was recognized by Executive Mosaic as one of the 100 most influential leaders in Government Contracting. Julian holds a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Columbia University
Larry Cox is a 40 year veteran of the intelligence community and is currently President of Western Slopes Security Services. Larry was previously the Senior Vice President and General Manager of SAIC's Cyber & Information Solutions Business. Under Larry's leadership that business grew from $200M to $700M with over 2,400 professionals supporting the nation's most vital cyber & SIGINT missions .
Prior to SAIC, Larry Cox was the Founder of ORINCON Sygenex, which was acquired by Lockheed Martin in 2003 and where he subsequently served as the Vice President of SIGINT strategy. Previous to that, Larry held senior positions on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) and within the National Intelligence Community. He is an active member of the cyber and SIGINT community serving on a number of government and industry advisory boards to include the CyberPatriot Board of Advisors. Larry Cox holds a bachelor's degree with honors from the University of Maryland and currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Member of the Chairman of the Board
Pierre Chao brings over 36 years of aerospace/defense/government services investment, corporate strategy, M&A, entrepreneurship, equity analysis and policy analysis expertise. In addition to his role at Athenix Solutions Group, he is the Chairman of KeyLogic Holdings (2018-present), and was a member of the board of directors of KeyW Corporation (NASDAQ:KEYW) (2010-2016) and Vistronix Intelligence & Technology Solutions (2014-2016). He is the co-founder (2007 - present) of a Washington D.C. and London-based aerospace/defense M&A due diligence, strategy and market research firm, and in 2012 was a co-founder of an aerospace/defense private credit and minority equity fund with $477 million of assets under management. Pierre spent a decade (1994-2006) on Wall Street as a Managing Director and the senior aerospace/defense analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley. Over the course of his Wall Street career, Pierre's team was ranked #1 by Institutional Investor every year eligible, he was on the Institutional Investor All-America Research Team every year eligible, the #1 aerospace/defense analyst in the 1995-99 Greenwich Associates polls. He participated in 31 landmark aerospace/defense equity offerings/IPOs raising $11.7 billion.
Pierre is also a guest lecturer at the National Defense University and the Defense Acquisition University. He was appointed by the Secretary of Defense to the Defense Business Board (2010-13), and has served on multiple Defense Science Board, National Academies, Army Science Board and Defense Innovation Board task forces. He was named to the Defense News 100 Most Influential People in U.S. Defense, named three times to the Wash100 award and the 2021 Washingtonian Tech Titans. From 2006-2016, he served on the Board of Advisors of Charity Works, a philanthropic non-profit that focused on supporting Washington DC area education and wounded warrior charities. Pierre earned dual bachelors degrees from M.I.T.
Ron Jones - Chief Strategy Officer
Job Titles:
- Chief Strategy Officer
- Member of the Board
- United States Marine Corp Officer
Ron Jones has over 35 years of experience in the Intelligence, Defense, and Aerospace industries and has driven growth and transformation for multiple companies through acquisitions, key talent hires, and large new business prime contract wins in the position of Chief Strategy Officer & Board Member.
Ron was a primary visionary, architect, and driver behind the transformation and accelerated growth of such national security stand-outs as Vistronix Intelligence & Technology Solutions, Global Defense Technology & Systems (aka Sotera Defense Solutions), Gray Hawk Systems, and Veridian Corporation, and was a driving force behind the Initial Public Offerings (IPO's) of Global Defense Technology & Systems (NASDAQ:GTEC) and of Veridian Corporation (NYSE:VNX).
Prior, Ron was a Director of Business Development at Harris Corporation, Government Systems Sector, now L3Harris.
Ron is a former United States Marine Corp Officer, holds a B.S. in Engineering from the United States Naval Academy, and has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.
Tom Middleton brings over 30 years of experience in Intelligence and Technology services, having worked at both large and mid-sized companies in operations and business development roles. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Athenix Solutions Group overseeing the operations across its two strategic business units, Athenix Cyber & SIGINT in Fulton, MD, and Athenix Special Missions in Tampa, FL.
Previously, Tom served in a variety of executive roles at General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), most recently Vice President of Business Development for the Intelligence and Homeland Security Division. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Operations for GDIT's National Intelligence Sector (NIS), where he provided day-to-day business management supporting delivery of critical systems, networks, and personnel responsible for executing intelligence-related missions worldwide. With more than 2,300 employees, NIS provided IT and mission solutions to the Intelligence Community.
Tom was also the President of the Mission Essential Intelligence Solutions Division providing intelligence analysis and operations support, ISR solutions/technology, and Cyberspace/Security superiority.
Tom holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a Master's degree in Business Administration from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Board
- Founder and Executive Chairman of Steel Partners Holdings L.P
Warren Lichtenstein is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Steel Partners Holdings L.P. (NYSE: SPLP), a global diversified holding company. He founded Steel Partners in 1990. Under his leadership for the past 30+years, Steel Partners has grown from a private investment fund with two employees and assets of $600,000 into Steel Partners Holdings L.P. Steel Partners employs 4,500people in 61 facilities in five countries with revenue of $1.5billion.
Mr. Lichtenstein was a Director and Executive Chairman of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. Aerojet Rocketdyne, a world-class developer and manufacturer of advanced propulsion and energetics systems for customers including the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, and other agencies and companies. Their markets include space, where they provide a full range of propulsion and power systems for launch vehicles, satellites, and other space vehicles; strategic missiles; missile defense; and tactical systems and armaments. He served as a Director from 2008 to 2022 and as Chairman and Executive Chairman from 2013 until 2022.
Mr. Lichtenstein was also chairman of United Industrial Corporation, which designed, produced, and supported defense systems, serving on its Board of Directors from 2001 to 2007. Its products included unmanned aerial vehicle systems, training and simulation systems, automated aircraft test and maintenance equipment.
During his career, Mr. Lichtenstein has served as a director for approximately 30 public and private companies,
Mr. Lichtenstein studied at Tulane University and the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.