Carey Smith
Chairwoman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Professional Overview
As the chairwoman, president, and chief executive officer of Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN), Carey is responsible for the company’s strategy, growth, business execution, and global operations. Parsons is headquartered in Centreville, Va., operates globally in 26 countries with ~16,000 employees, and creates the future of national security and global infrastructure to deliver a better world.
Carey joined Parsons in 2016 as president of the Federal Solutions business. She was promoted to chief operating officer in 2018, and president and chief operating officer in 2019. During this time, Carey prepared the business operations to operate as a public company, merged the federal and critical infrastructure support functions, enhanced organic top and bottom-line growth across both segments, drove the acquisition identification and integration of seven companies (Williams Electric, Polaris Alpha®, OGSystems®, QRC® Technologies, Braxton Science and Technology Group, BlackHorse Solutions and Echo Ridge), and helped take the company public. She was elected chief executive officer by the board of directors effective July 2021 and appointed Chairwoman effective April 2022.
Prior to joining Parsons in 2016, she held a series of progressive leadership roles within the defense and aerospace industry. Most recently, Carey was president of the defense and space business unit at Honeywell, where she led an expansion of the company’s business across the U.S. government and international defense agencies. She also previously served as vice president of Honeywell Aerospace Customer and Product Support and president of Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc.
Prior to Honeywell, Carey held executive positions at Lockheed Martin, including as vice president of Technical Services, vice president of business development for the Maritime Systems and Sensors business unit, and president and CEO of the company’s Canada operations. She began her career as a systems engineer.
Education
Carey holds an M.S. in electrical engineering from Syracuse University and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Ohio Northern University. In 2018, she received an honorary doctorate from Ohio Northern University for her outstanding contributions to the university and the field of engineering.
Additional Information
She is a member of the Board of Directors for two public companies – Parsons Corporation and Edison International, and a member of the Board of Directors for three non-profit organizations - the Professional Services Council where she serves as Chair of the Board of Directors, the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, and the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.
Carey was named for four years as one of the “Top Execs to Watch” by WashingtonExec and was a 2019 finalist for Executive of the Year by Washington Government Contract Awards (GovCon). She is a four-time awardee of the Wash100 by Executive Mosaic including in 2022, the Virginia 500 Power List from 2020-2022, one of the top 5 COO’s to watch in Government Contracting in 2020, one of the Top 100 Diverse Corporate Leaders in STEM in 2014, and in 2017 and 2012 Carey was recognized as one of the Top 100 Women in STEM. Carey was the Marlington High School alumni of the year in 2016 and Ohio Northern University alumni of the year in 2015.
About Parsons
Parsons (NYSE: PSN) is a leading provider of technology-driven solutions focused on the national security and critical infrastructure markets. Celebrating more than 77 years of operations, Parsons provides integrated solutions to address our customers’ challenges. Parsons has differentiated capabilities in cybersecurity, missile defense, space, C5ISR, transportation, water/wastewater treatment and environmental remediation. Parsons’ combination of talented professionals and advanced technology enables a safer, smarter, more secure and more interconnected world.