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Fort Meade Alliance Welcomes New Board Member

Mike Heard

The Fort Meade Alliance (FMA) has appointed Mike Heard of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems as a new member to its Board of Directors effective November 1, 2022.

“We are thrilled Mike is now a part of our Board,” said FMA President Joe Pacileo. “His background brings a well-roundedness to our leadership that we believe will help us continue to serve the needs of the Fort Meade community.”


Mike Heard is an experienced corporate leader and technologist. He is the Director of the Sensing and Secure Solutions (S3) Operating Unit at Northrop Grumman Corporation. He leads strategy, execution, and growth for a portfolio of software, cybersecurity, and next generation encryption capabilities.

Prior to his current role, Mike led an Operating Unit responsible for a portfolio of cybersecurity and infrastructure programs. He has served as program manager for an ACAT I Major System Acquisition and the Chief Architect responsible for the vision and technical leadership over a $1.2B Division’s Full Spectrum Operations.

Mike was raised near Kennedy Space Center watching Space Shuttle launches, which inspired his love of technology and drew him to the aerospace and defense industry. He has worked across the program and system lifecycle in a breadth of areas spanning agile software development, systems engineering, cyberspace operations, satellite communications, and unmanned aerial vehicles. He enjoys building diverse teams and empowering them to solve the most challenging problems. He has been recognized numerous times within three Sectors at Northrop Grumman.

Mike holds a master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Florida with bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering.

He is a Northrop Grumman Technical Fellow Emeritus, a former International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP), a former PMI certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and an active board member of Northrop Grumman’s Employees Charity Organization (ECHO).

Mike and his wife live in Maryland with their two children.