Peter Whitehead

Peter Whitehead

Associate Research Professor

Dr. Whitehead brings over 40 years of experience in commercial and defense industry, academia, and government to VTNSI. Before coming to VTNSI, Dr. Whitehead provided expertise in systems analysis, manufacturing, space technology, consulting, and education through Whitehead and Company to sponsors including NATO, Capital One, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.  As a RAND Senior Engineer and Professor of Policy Analysis, he led projects and served as subject matter expert on space, digital engineering, supply chain analysis, geopolitical vulnerabilities, artificial intelligence, critical thinking, systems engineering, and other topics for a litany of defense and civilian sponsors. At MITRE Peter led a trans-disciplinary research program that leveraged AI at the edge in healthcare. He also supported DHS and Treasury sponsors. Prior to MITRE, he served as a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation and in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. His other work experience includes Program Manager on two military space programs at Lockheed Martin Corporation, Foreign Service Officer serving in 60 countries including working with ESA in the early stages of the Galileo GNSS, Director of Research and Development at ViaSystems (Lucent Bell Labs spin-off), Consultant to the Army (G2), Director of Mission Sensor Testing for an Air Force satellite at Westinghouse (Northrup Grumman), and as an industrial engineer at ITT Electro-optical Systems in Roanoke, VA. Peter was co-founder and Vice Chair of the IEEE-USA Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems Policy and is an IEEE Life Senior Member. He served as the Editor of International Abstracts in Operations Research (2011-2018), (IFORS), and is currently an Associate Editor of the IEEE Systems Journal and of IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. Peter earned an M.E. in electrical engineering, an M.E. in systems engineering, and a Doctor of Philosophy in systems engineering from the University of Virginia. He earned a BS in physics and mathematics and a BA in French from Washington and Lee University, both with honors. He is a member of Omega Rho, the Operations Research Academic Honor Society. In his spare time, you will find Peter in Portugal grilling sardines and tasting vinho verde.