- CAE Inc (NYSE: CAE) (TSX: CAE) announced it has appointed Daniel Gelston as Group President of Defense & Security, effective August 24, 2020
CAE Inc (NYSE: CAE) (TSX: CAE) announced it has appointed Daniel Gelston as Group President of Defense & Security, effective August 24, 2020. Gelston is going to be based in Washington, D.C. and will be succeeding Heidi Wood, CAE’s Executive Vice–President, Business Development & Growth Initiatives — who was also acting as interim Group President.
“I am very pleased to welcome Dan Gelston to CAE’s executive management team, as our new Group President, Defence & Security. He is a proven leader with more than 20 years of experience in the U.S. military, intelligence community and the global defence industry,” said CAE’s President and Chief Executive Officer Marc Parent. “Dan’s energy and his solid track record as a growth-focused leader will be invaluable in driving the growth of our Defence business in our core operations and expanding further into an array of related adjacencies that align well to our business strengths. I have no doubt that his industry experience and exceptional leadership will propel our Defence business to reach its full potential.”
Prior to joining CAE, Gelston served as President of L3Harris Technologies’ Broadband Communications Systems sector and President of Communication Systems-West division. And in this role, Gelston led his team to multiple record-breaking years of fiscal performance and significantly improved the business’s overall competitive win-rate and pipeline expansion.
Before the leadership role at L3Harris Technologies, Gelston was President of the Special Security Agreement (SSA) businesses Smiths Detection and Cobham Tactical Communications and Surveillance. And in 2017, he led the SSA-controlled portion of Smith’s $710 million Morpho Detection acquisition and the divestment of Smith’s Brazil business. Five years ago, Gelston led the sale of Cobham’s Surveillance Business and served as CEO during its transition to a standalone company.
Gelston holds a Master of Science degree in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University and a double-major Bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Strategic Policy from Bucknell University. And Gelston’s military experience includes active and reserve duty from 1998 to 2007 as an Armor and Military Intelligence Officer. He is also a US Army Armor School Draper Awardee and Intelligence Officer School Distinguished Honor Graduate.
