De Ann Pope is an accomplished scientist and engineer, who specializes in information security, systems engineering and product development, among other areas of focus. Serving as a chief scientist and senior program manager of L-3 Communications since 2003, she has always held an interest in the sciences. Coupled with her father’s encouragement to pursuing science and technology, Ms. Pope received a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Venice in her native Italy in 1979. Subsequently, she served as an electrical engineer for the U.S. Air Force from 1979 to 1985.
Boasting more than 40 years of experience in her field, Ms. Pope first served as a systems engineer for Wang Labs and Digital Equipment Corporation beginning in 1985 before escalating to the rank of senior systems engineer at Hughes Aircraft (now known as Raytheon) in 1991. Holding the position for three years, she then became the president and an independent consultant of the Office of Imagery Analysis within the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Integration and Systems Engineering Services from 1994 to 1997. Employed with SSDC, Inc., for three additional years as vice president of systems architecture and network security architect, Ms. Pope became the chief architect and director of operations of Cidera, Inc., in 1998.
From there, Ms. Pope served Vinciv Corporation as chief executive officer, chief technology officer and president for one year before moving on to Wireless Security Solution, Ecutel, Inc., as the vice president of engineering in 2001. In 2002, she was the director of the information assurance practice of Pragmatics, Inc., and for the following two years, she served as technical director and systems architect of Mantech Security Technologies Corporation.
Holding numerous certifications and patents in the field, Ms. Pope emphasizes that one has to work diligently and plot a path to achieve one’s goals. She notes that there are no shortcuts in an individual’s personal and professional life. She attributes her success to hard work, dedication and her interest in solving problems. Her expertise in national security solutions, enterprise architecture, modeling and simulation, and organizational development has served as a catalyst for her career success, and she regularly provides group facilitations, training, and knowledge transfers in cybersecurity and project management-related areas.
Married to her husband Sherman H. Pope for many years, Ms. Pope has four children and two grandchildren. Looking toward the future, she intends to pursue retirement.
