Technology >> CEO Interviews >> September 24, 2001
ALFRED G. HANSEN is President and Chief Executive Officer of EMS
Technologies, Inc. Appointed as CEO in January 2001, Mr. Hansen provides
both strategic direction and operational management for EMS' operations
in Canada and the United States, which involve almost 2,000 employees
and revenues of $300 million. Mr. Hansen also is a member of the EMS
Board of Directors, a position he has held since April 1999. Prior to
being named CEO, he was EMS' President and Chief Operating Officer, a
position he held from January 2000. During that period, Mr. Hansen
improved EMS' processes and performance in key company areas ranging
from manufacturing and customer service to sales and internal R&D. In
2000, EMS was rewarded for these efforts with record orders and strong
profitability that exceeded the previous year's results, with more than
a third of the record Space & Technology backlog relating to development
of the company's broadband capabilities. Prior to joining EMS, Mr.
Hansen served as President of A.G. Hansen Associates, Inc., an aerospace
marketing and manufacturing consultancy in Marietta, Georgia., with
clients in the United States and around the world. Prior to establishing
his own firm, he was Corporate Vice President of Lockheed Martin and
Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems from
1995 until 1998. In 1989, after a 37-year career, he retired from the
U.S. Air Force as a Four-Star General. In his last assignment, he served
as Commander of the Air Force Logistics Command (USAF), headquartered at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. He was responsible for
providing the logistics resources necessary to keep USAF units around
the world in a state of readiness. Under Mr. Hansen's command were five
logistics centers and 12 specialized centers with more than 100,000
people. Mr. Hansen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business
Administration from Troy State University in Alabama and completed
graduate programs at the Air Command and Staff College and Air War
College. Mr. Hansen has received the Secretary of the Air Force Eugene
Zuckert Award for exceptional management in his organization, and the
Presidential Quality Award, the equivalent of the Malcolm Baldrige Award
in the federal sector. He currently serves on the Board for Southern
Poly Technical State University, the Junior Achievement Board, as
Chairman of the Arnold Air Society for the USAF Reserve Officer Training
Corps.program in 163 US universities and colleges, and as a Board member
of the Falcon Foundation of the United States Air Force Academy. Profile
TWST: Could we begin with a brief overview and a summary of what EMSTechnologies, Inc.?
Mr. Hansen: First of all, EMS Technologies doesn't fall in the category
of a dot-com that's here today