Board of Directors

Jerry Wohletz

President and CEO

Jerry M. Wohletz, Ph.D., is President and Chief Executive Officer. He was appointed to his current position in June 2022.

Jerry has more than 22 years of experience in leadership within the defense industry. His broad executive management experience spans electronic warfare, advanced technologies, start-ups, defense applications and research.

Before joining Draper, Jerry held a variety of senior executive roles at BAE Systems, including Vice President and General Manager of Electronic Combat Solutions – electronic warfare industry leader with products installed on 80 percent of U.S. military fighters – as well as Vice President and General Manager of FAST Labs^TM, the advanced technologies organization that underpins the products and services for BAE Systems, Inc.

Prior to BAE Systems, Jerry was a Director at ALPHATECH Inc., a start-up spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) acquired by BAE Systems. There he pioneered autonomy for defense applications that led to the development of the Multi-vehicle Mission Control System product. Before that, he was a Research Scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory and at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. Jerry began his career as an Aeronautics Engineer with McDonnell Douglas working on the F/A-18E/F aircraft design.

Jerry holds a B.S. degree with highest distinction in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas; an M.S. in engineering focused on aeronautics and astronautics from MIT, and a Ph.D. in estimation and control, also from MIT.

While at BAE Systems, he received its highest award for his leadership in reversing the EC-130H cancellation and vision for the new EC-37B weapon system. Additionally, Jerry was recognized for his contributions to our nation’s defense and selected on the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. Most recently, he was named one of 10 Best CEOs of 2024 by Industry Tech Outlook magazine for his ability to navigate through unprecedented challenges and reshape industries with innovation and steadfast commitment to excellence.

Amr A. ElSawy

Chairman of the Board

Amr ElSawy is Chairman of Draper’s Board of Directors. He became Chairman in 2024, having joined the Board in 2022. Amr has extensive experience leading technology organizations and developing innovative solutions to complex challenges facing public sector enterprises in defense, intelligence, aerospace, and transportation.

Currently, Amr is President and CEO of ElSawy Enterprises, LLC and serves as an advisor to private equity firms. Previously, he served as the President and CEO of Noblis from October 2007 to October 2022. In that position, he was responsible for the general management and strategic direction of the organization’s overall scientific, technical, financial, and administrative activities. Amr was elected to the Noblis Board of Trustees in 2007 and continues to serve in that role.

His experience ranges across research and development, complex engineering of information and telecommunications systems, modeling and simulation, enterprise transformation using cloud and high-performance computing, program management, and acquisition of large-scale systems. He has earned an international reputation for expertise in aviation, informing domestic and international aviation policy.

Prior to joining Noblis, Amr was a Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development of the MITRE Corporation. He served for seven years as the Director of the Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Amr also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for George Washington University and the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.

He holds an MBA from Georgetown University, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from West Virginia University.

David B. Aronoff

David B. Aronoff joined Draper’s Board of Directors in 2015. He is Executive Chairman of MCJ Collective, which is focused on climate technology startups. David’s experience includes two decades as a General Partner at venture capital firms investing in early-stage entities in infrastructure, software as a service, Internet of Things and cybersecurity. 

Since 2020, he has been a Partner Emeritus at Flybridge Capital Partners, an early-stage investment firm, where he was a General Partner from 2005 to 2020. David was formerly a General Partner at Greylock Partners from 1996 to 2005.

Previously he worked as a software architect and engineering manager at Chipcom Corp., and he was a member of technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories.

David currently serves on the boards of several technology companies. A Trustee Emeritus of The University of Vermont, he serves on UVM’s Foundation Leadership Council and School of Business Advisory Board. He also serves on New York University’s Innovation Venture Fund Information Technology Advisory Board.

David holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Vermont, cum laude and with college honors; a master’s degree in computer engineering from the University of Southern California; and an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.

Terry J. Benedict

Vice Admiral Terry Benedict, U.S. Navy (retired), joined Draper’s Board in 2018, after concluding his military career. He has been Executive Vice President for Naval, Nuclear, and Critical Infrastructure Programs at Systems Planning and Analysis since 2022. Previously Terry was Chief Operating Officer of Blue Origin and Operations Manager for the Nuclear Security and Operations Group at Bechtel National. 

Throughout his 30 years of service with the U.S. Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, Terry held 10 different positions, ultimately serving as Director for 8 years (2010-2018). Before assuming command of Strategic Systems Programs, he also served as Program Executive Officer for Integrated Warfare Systems, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

A 1982 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Terry began his naval career as a Surface Warfare Officer, eventually transferring to the Engineering Duty Officer community. He holds a master’s degree in engineering science from the Naval Postgraduate School and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. In addition, he is a graduate of the Advanced Program Management course at the Defense Acquisition University, the Executive Leadership Course at Carnegie Mellon, and is a certified Project Management Professional. 

Terry is a member of the U.S. Strategic Command Senior Advisory Group, Stockpile Assessment Team. He serves on the Board of Regents of the Strategic Deterrent Coalition.

Cynthia Collins

Cynthia Collins joined Draper’s Board of Directors in 2021. She has more than four decades of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Currently, she is the Executive Chair and interim CEO of Nutcracker Therapeutics, a contract, research, development and manufacturing organization with a next-generation RNA precision manufacturing platform.

Previously, she was the CEO of Editas Medicine from 2019 to 2021, where the first clinical trial administration of an in vivo CRISPR gene editing therapy took place under her leadership.

Cynthia’s previous executive roles in biopharma included CEO of Human Longevity; CEO/General Manager of various life science businesses at GE Healthcare; President and CEO of GenVec; Group Vice President at Beckman Coulter; CEO and President of Sequoia Pharmaceuticals; and President of Global Oncology at Baxter Healthcare.

Earlier in her career, she served as President of Clinical Micro Sensors, Inc., then a subsidiary of Motorola. She began her career in various operating roles with Abbott Laboratories.

Cynthia is a board member of Certara, MaxCyte, DermTech, Codexis, Draper, Alanis Therapeutics and Foundation for mRNA Medicines. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Jamie Goldstein

Jamie Goldstein joined Draper’s Board of Directors in 2024. He is managing partner at Pillar VC, a firm he co-founded with leaders of many of Boston’s most important companies, including DraftKings, Wayfair, Ginkgo Bioworks, and Circle.

Jamie has spent over two decades working in venture capital, and his investments include Algorand, PathAI, Asimov, Abridge, Jellyfish, and Videa Health, among others. He also serves as Chairman of Petri, an accelerator program co-founded by Pillar VC focused on supporting companies at the intersection of computation, biology, and engineering.

Jamie previously spent 18 years at North Bridge Venture Partners. Prior to North Bridge, he co-founded PureSpeech, a venture-backed speech recognition software and applications company that was acquired by Voice Control Systems and subsequently sold to Nuance. Jamie also co-founded WattsUp?, a company that sells consumer electricity meters and remains in business today.

Jamie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as Chairman and President of the New England Venture Capital Association.

Scott W. MacKay

Scott W. MacKay became a Draper Board member in 2022. His legal experience includes a wide variety of corporate, civil government, and military roles. A solo practitioner since 2015, he provides pro bono legal services for veterans before the military correction boards, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Federal courts. 

Scott was the Vice President and General Counsel of Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions from 2010 to 2015. Previously, he was the Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Lockheed Martin Corporation. Scott joined Lockheed Martin in 1995, and was responsible for managing and conducting corporate litigation, including criminal and civil fraud matters, coordinating the Corporation's response to government investigations and requests for information, conducting internal investigations, and other compliance issues. 

From 1988 to 1995, as a Senior Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division's Fraud Section, he investigated and prosecuted procurement fraud cases, as well as cases involving violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, perjury before a grand jury, public corruption, and fraud relating to classified contracts. A U.S. Army line officer from 1976 to 1981, Scott joined the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps in 1981, handling a variety of legal duties including prosecuting and defending soldiers at courts-martial, prosecuting misdemeanors as a Special Assistant United States Attorney, and serving as a legal advisor in the Office of the Secretary of the Army. 

Scott received his bachelor of science degree in engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and his Juris Doctor degree from the Boston University School of Law.

His pro bono work has been recognized with the Department of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal and the Department of the Army Commander’s Award.

Betty J. Sapp

Betty Sapp joined Draper’s Board of Directors in 2019 following her retirement as Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (DNRO). She brings decades of leadership and financial management experience in the intelligence community and the U.S. Air Force to Draper’s Board.

After joining the Central Intelligence Agency in 1997, Betty was assigned to the NRO, serving in senior management positions. In 2005, she became the Deputy Director, NRO, for Business Plans and Operations. As Principal Deputy Director, NRO (2009-2012), she provided overall day-to-day management of the NRO. Betty was appointed DNRO in 2012, leading the NRO for seven years. 

As the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Portfolio, Programs and Resources), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (2007 to 2009), Betty provided executive oversight of the multibillion-dollar portfolio of defense intelligence-related acquisition programs; the planning, programming, budgeting and execution of the multibillion-dollar Military Intelligence Program; and the technology efforts for current and future warfighter needs.

As a U.S. Air Force officer (1979-1997), Betty held acquisition and financial management positions, including business management positions in the NRO; Program Element Monitor at the Pentagon for the MILSTAR system; Program Manager for the Fleet Satellite Communications System program at the Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles; and manager of a joint-service development effort for the A-10 engine at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Betty holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from the University of Missouri, Columbia. 

Her awards include the Presidential Rank Award, National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service.

John Shaw

Lieutenant General John Shaw (U.S. Space Force, retired) joined Draper’s Board of Directors in 2024. He has more than 33 years of experience in national security, space, and aerospace engineering with a focus on leading large-scale technical, global organizations.

John’s last active-duty assignment, as a three-star general in the U.S. Space Force, was Deputy Commander of U.S. Space Command. In that role, he directed more than 12,000 personnel worldwide and oversaw a $525M budget to defend the nation’s critical space capabilities and to deliver space effects to terrestrial warfighters and human society. Before joining the U.S. Space Command, he was the last commander of the 14th Air Force (U.S. Air Force) and the first commander of Space Operations Command (U.S. Space Force) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, leading 10,000+ personnel across the globe.

Prior to commanding the 14th Air Force, John spent 30 years as a leader of large, complex and highly technical organizations responsible for some of the world’s most critical space capabilities within both the Department of Defense and the National Reconnaissance Office. He also served as a senior policy advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and as a co-chair or member of several U.S. delegations discussing space security issues with Russian and international delegations.

John holds multiple academic degrees in technical and strategic management fields, including a bachelor’s degree in astronautical engineering with a Russian language minor from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Washington, and a master’s in organizational management from George Washington University. He has authored or co-authored many works on space-focused strategy, security, and policy.

Wanda A. Sigur

A member of Draper’s Corporation since 2019, Wanda A. Sigur joined the Board of Directors in 2021. She capped a nearly 40-year career with Lockheed Martin Space (LMSpace) in 2017, retiring as Vice President and General Manager, Civil Space. Currently, she is an independent consultant for emerging space exploration and traditional aerospace industry companies through Lambent Engineering LLC, which she founded and leads as President.

As Vice President and General Manager of Civil Space at LMSpace, Wanda had executive responsibility for national space programs relating to human space flight and space science missions, including planetary, solar, astrophysical, and Earth remote sensing for civil government agencies. Her previous role at LMSpace was Vice President of Engineering, with engineers assigned to civil, military, classified, commercial space and strategic missile systems programs. Wanda began her career at LMSpace as a Materials Engineer in 1979. From Group Lead, she advanced at the company to Vice President in 2005, the first of four Vice President roles she would hold at LMSpace.

Wanda is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology.  Wanda is a member of the National Academies Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and is a member of the IAA’s Space Technology & System Development Commission.

Wanda graduated from Rice University with a bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering and holds an MBA from Tulane University.

Barbara N. Stevens

Barbara N. Stevens joined Draper’s Corporation in 2020 and its Board of Directors in 2021. Since concluding a 35-year career with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2020, she served as CEO of Exovera before founding her own company, Nelson Analytic Consulting, LLC.

During her CIA career, Barbara built and then directed complex data science programs. As an executive-level leader in the CIA, Barbara’s leadership was multifaceted. She drove application of data analysis and cloud computing to modernize technology infrastructure. She led transformations of units of the CIA and led change at the organizational level. This included developing training for management and delivering executive training. Her awards from the CIA include The Director of Central Intelligence Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, and the CIA Excellence in Mentoring Award.

Barbara is a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a member of the Advisory Board for the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a member of the Proxy Board of Directors of Hexagon U.S. Federal, a member of the board of Moneycorp NA, and an advisor at several other companies. She is a Certified Director through the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Passionate about mentoring young women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Barbara works with Spookstock Foundation, dedicated to helping the children of fallen Intelligence Community officers.

Barbara earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from the Florida State University in mathematical statistics. Her bachelor’s degree is from the University of Florida. She served on the faculty of the University of Georgia in the Department of Statistics and Computer Science (1983-1985) before joining the CIA.

D. Richard Williams

D. Richard Williams joined Draper’s Board of Directors in 2017. He has served as Non-executive Chairman of Primerica’s Board of Directors since 2015, after concluding his role as Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Primerica.

Richard has spent most of his financial services career as a leader of Primerica. Prior to becoming Chairman and Co-CEO in 2010 following the company’s initial public offering, he served as Co-CEO, beginning in 1999. He was Chief Financial Officer from 1988 to 1999 and Chief Operating Officer from 1997 to 1999. Previously he held three roles as President of company units:  Primerica Life Insurance Company, Primerica Canada and PFS Investments.

Prior to joining the company, he held managerial and executive roles focused on mergers and acquisitions.

Richard serves on the Board of Directors of Crawford & Company, as well as on the governing bodies of several philanthropic organizations.

He received his bachelor’s degree in economics and his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.