DBJ unveils 2023 Who's Who in Aerospace and Defense honorees

The Dayton Business Journal has released its list of Who’s Who in Aerospace and Defense for 2023.

This special report, compiled by the DBJ editorial board, includes over 100 honorees from the aerospace and defense sector, a vital and growing business sector for the Dayton region.

The full report will appear in the April 14 DBJ print and online editions.

Related: Three local Aerospace and Defense leaders to receive special awards

As part of this special recognition, we will be hosting a private invite-only reception for all honorees on April 13 from 4:30pm – 6:30pm at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. 

Wright-Patt is Ohio’s largest single-site employer, with nearly 30,000 workers. The base also supports more than 60,000 local jobs when you factor in the defense contractors and other companies here because of the Air Force presence.

Here are the 2023 honorees:

• Dennis Andersh, President and CEO, Parallax Advanced Research
• Brig. Gen. John Andrus, Commander, 711th Human Performance Wing
• Col. Charles Barkhurst, Vice Commander, 88th Air Base Wing
• Col. Ariel Batungbacal, NASIC commander
• Amber Begley, Director of military affairs, Dayton Development Coalition
• Elaine Bryant, Executive vice president for aerospace and defense, Dayton Development Coalition
• Heidi Bullock, Contracting director, Air Force Materiel Command
• Anju Chawla, CEO, Edaptive Computing
• Lisa Coker, CEO, Infinite Management Solutions
• Chris Coombs, president, Dayton Aerospace
• Carly Cox, President, JJR Solutions
• Lea Culver, President and CEO, Creek Technologies
• Capt. Walter Dalitsch, Commanding Officer, Navy Medical Research Unit - Dayton 
• Jim Ebel, Partner, Guidehouse
• Ken Edge, CEO, Infinity Labs
• Susan Edwards, President of Wright State University
• Lorna Estep, Executive director, Air Force Materiel Command
• Col. Dominic Fago, Commander, 178th Wing, Springfield Air National Guard Base
• Dion Flannery, President, PSA Airlines
• Chief Master Sergeant David Flosi, Command Chief, Air Force Materiel Command
• Tom Franzen, Springfield Assistant city manager/ National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence 
• Angela Fronista, President and CEO, BTAS Inc.
• Jacqueline Gamblin, Founder and CEO, JYG Innovations LLC
• Kevin Gaudette, Senior vice president at Linquest Corp.
• Amanda Gentry, Director of the Sensors Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory
• Mike Gilkey, Executive vice president and manager of air and space technology sector, Infoscitex Corp.
• Ken Ginader, Director, Lockheed Martin Dayton Field Office
• Jeff Graley, Co-founder and president, Mile Two
• Travis Greenwood, President and CEO, The Greentree Group
• Michael Gregg, Director, Aerospace Systems Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory
• Alvin Hall, Founder and chairman, Solutions Through Innovative Technologies Inc.
• Reggie Hamilton, Vice president, defense and intel solutions, KBR Inc.
• Maj. Gen. John Harris, Jr., Adjutant General, Ohio National Guard
• Bob Hawley, President, Matrix Research
• Jeff Hoagland, President and CEO, Dayton Development Coalition
• Patrick Hood, Founder and CEO, CRG
• Jeff Hughes, President, Tenet 3
• Walter Jones, Director and chancellor, Air Force Institute of Technology
• Nina Joshi, President and CEO, UES Inc.
• Madhavi Kadakia, Vice provost for research and development, Wright State University
• Col. Lea Kirkwood, Program Executive Officer, Agile Combat Support, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
• Joe Krisciunas, General manager and president of Electrical Power Systems, GE Aviation
• Andrea Kunk, President, Peerless Technologies Corp.
• Col. John Kurian, Vice Commander, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
• Daryl Laisure, President and CEO, ZIN Technologies
• Brig. Gen. Jason Lindsey, Air Force Program Executive Officer for Presidential & Executive Airlift, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
• Gen. Lester Lyles (Ret.), Former commander, Air Force Materiel Command
• Mo McDonald, Vice president of Air Force operations, PE Systems
• Brian McJilton, Director of small business, Air Force Research Laboratory
• Col. Chris Meeker, Commander, 88th Air Base Wing
• Jeff Mellott, Director of Small Business, Air Force Materiel Command
• Kate Mercer, Vice president, Booz Allen Hamilton
• Aaron Miller, Director, business strategy and operations, Galois
• Lt. Gen. Shaun Morris, Commander, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center 
• J.P. Nauseef, President and CEO, JobsOhio
• Hernan Olivas, President and CEO, O’Neil & Associates
• Adam Parillo, Dean of business and applied technologies, Clark State College
• Ricky Peters, Chief strategy officer, Tenet 3
• Darrell Phillipson, Director, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory 
• Joseph Portera, President, Sawdey Solution Services
• Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle, Commander, Air Force Research Laboratory
• Jeffrey Pursel, Vice president, Open Innovation Center, Riverside Research
• Col. Marqus Randall, Commander, National Space Intelligence Center, United States Space Force
• Gen. Duke Richardson, Commander, Air Force Materiel Command
• Dan Riggs, Chief growth and strategy officer, Dine Development Corp.
• Nick Ripplinger, President, Battle Sight Technologies
• Brig. Gen. William Rogers, Air Force Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Bombers, Bombers Directorate, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
• Valerie Rossi, President, Azimuth Corp.
• Curtis Rowland, Executive vice president - chief strategy officer, Radiance Technologies
• Brig. Gen Joel Safranek, Director of Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
• Timothy Sakulich, Executive director, Air Force Research Laboratory 
• Lt. Gen. Carl Schaefer, Deputy Commander, Air Force Material Command
• Andrew Shepherd, Executive director and chief scientist, unmanned aerial systems, Sinclair Community College
• Chris Shepherd, Vice president, construction solutions group, Trimble Navigation
• Bob Sherwood, Director, aerospace and cyberspace technologies, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
• Srujal Sheth, CEO, Vana Solutions
• Ron Shroder, President, CEO and chairman, Frontier Technology Inc.
• Sukh Sidhu, Executive director, University of Dayton Research Institute
• Col. Raymond Smith, Commander, 445th Airlift Wing
• Allen Stephen, President, CompTech Sales
• Morley Stone, CEO, MinedXAI
• Kevin Sullivan, Managing director, Applied Research Solutions
• Scott Sullivan, Defense contractor, JobsOhio board member
• Suzanne Sumner, Partner, Government Contracts lead, Taft Law
• Lt. Gen. JT Thompson (ret), Former commander, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
• David Tillotson, Director, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
• Gil Turner, Director, Dayton International Airport
• U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Dayton), Ranking member, House Intelligence Committee
• Jim Utt, President, Defense Engineering Corp.
• Todd Vikan, President, TACG
• Kathy Watern, Executive director, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center
• Paul Waugh, Program Executive Officer and Director for the Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center 
• Brig. Gen Dale White, Program Executive Officer for Fighters and Advanced Aircraft, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Materiel Command
• Matthew Whiteley, Vice president and senior scientist, MZA Associates 
• Col. Joshua Williams, Program Executive Officer, ISR and Special Ops, AF Life Cycle Management Center
• Mark Williams, Senior vice president of strategy, Sierra Nevada Corp.
• Al Wofford, President, CDO Technologies
• Blaine Worthington, Chief operating officer, Altamira Technologies Corp.
• Joe Zeis, Aerospace and defense advisor, state of Ohio

Caleb Stephens  
Editor-in-Chief - Dayton Business Journal