Bahman Atefi

Dr. Atefi is the Chairman and CEO of Alion Science and Technology. He became President of Alion’s predecessor company, IIT Research Institute (IITRI) in 1997. IITRI is a not-for-profit R&D company affiliated with Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).

In 2002, he led the effort in purchasing majority of the assets of IITRI from IIT by the employees which resulted in establishment of Alion as a 100% employee-owned S corporation. Since that time, Alion has grown from 1,600 employees to approximately 3,400 employees. Both organic growth and a series of strategic acquisitions have contributed to Alion’s success.

Prior to joining IITRI, he had a 15-year career at SAIC. His last assignment at SAIC was Senior Vice President in charge of the Energy and Environment Group, a 600 person organization consisting of nuclear, chemical and environmental engineers supporting a variety of government, commercial and international clients. He started his career as a nuclear engineer at the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).

Dr. Atefi won the Ernst & Young’s greater Washington area Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Defense and Security category in 2003, and ACG National Capital area Dealmaker of the Year award in 2006. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University, followed by a master’s degree and a doctor of science degree in nuclear engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.