- Shea to receive honorary doctorate in humane letters
- Peraton employs more than 450 Mason graduates
Mar 31, 2022
Stu Shea, Peraton’s Chairman, President and CEO, will deliver the commencement address for George Mason University’s spring graduation at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Va. at 10 a.m. on May 20, 2022. In recognition of Shea’s lifetime of learning and contributions to the nation, Mason will present him with an honorary doctorate in humane letters during the ceremony.
Shea has over four decades of experience in the national security community as a business leader, strategist and intelligence professional. As the CEO of Peraton, he leads a $7 billion national security company that is a valued partner to essential government agencies and delivers trusted, highly differentiated national security solutions to customers spanning the globe.
He has previously served in academic advisory roles for institutions including Mason’s College of Science, the University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the University of Virginia’s Department of Systems and Information Engineering.
“Today’s graduates are entering the workforce at a time when the world is grappling with complex questions about how to effectively address evolving threats and challenges that don’t respect traditional boundaries and systems,” said Shea. “Only now do we understand that our ability to respond to a global pandemic or protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks is just as important as our military strength or intelligence collection capabilities. As digital natives, this generation of graduates possesses a skillset and a mindset that will allow them to adapt to and thrive in this changing world.”
More than 450 Mason alumni work at Peraton, one of the largest privately owned employers in the Washington metro area.
“George Mason is a national asset in higher education, and I have tremendous appreciation for the work the university has done over the last 50 years to equip its students with the tools they’ll need to solve real-world challenges that affect national security and protect our way of life,” said Shea. “This country and the world need college graduates with diverse backgrounds and multidisciplinary talent who can help both government and industry address critical missions of consequence.”
Shea is the founder of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Intelligence University Foundation and the Board of Trustees of Riverside Research. He has served as chairman of the Senior Advisory Group for two Directors of National Intelligence and been a board member of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Intelligence and National Security Alliance, and the National Academy of Sciences Marine Board.
Shea has earned a Master of Arts from the University of Kansas, a Bachelor of Science from SUNY Albany, and received executive education at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Harvard Business School, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and The George Washington University School of Business.
The live broadcast of the commencement will be available to stream via GMU-TV.
