Dawne Hickton, COO & President of ATN for Jacobs, Named to 2020 Wash100 for Leadership and Driving Innovation in the Aerospace Sector

Executive Mosaic is honored to present Dawne Hickton, chief operating officer and president of the company's Aerospace, Technology and Nuclear (ATN) business, as an inductee of the 2020 Wash 100 Award for her leadership and expertise to drive innovation in the aerospace industry.

This marks Hickton’s first Wash100 Award. Her immense expertise in the aerospace industry over the last three decades, including more than half as a senior executive, makes Hickton a shoe in for the most coveted and prestigious award in all of government contracting. Her leadership and experience also made her the best candidate to succeed Terry Hagen for her current position. 

Hickton was named the COO and president of Jacobs’ ATN business in May 2019 as the company was preparing to acquire KeyW. She officially assumed the role on June 3, 2019. 

“Given her track record of execution at other companies, as well as her contributions as a director to Jacobs, I know that Dawne will be a significant asset as a member of our leadership team as we continue our transformational strategy of delivering innovative and unique solutions to our clients," said Steve Demetriou, CEO of Jacobs. 

Hickton shared her appreciation and excitement to assume the role and “transform our company and lead our industry through innovation. I look forward to building on our many successes.”

By August, Jacobs had reached a deal to acquire John Wood Group’s nuclear business for $300 million to expand its nuclear lifecycle offerings and accelerate the growth of the company’s ATN business. The boards of directors of Jacobs, which included Hickton, and John Wood Group approved the agreement and the transaction will close in the second quarter of fiscal year 2020. 

The company went on to secure a potential five-year, $216 million contract from the U.S. GSA Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM) to support the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center’s (DC3) Cyber Training Academy (CTA) in November.

Jacobs will provide modernization, design, development and delivery-related services related to specialized cyber training to CTA. More specifically, Jacobs’ (ATN) unit will help the DC3 CTA to carry out critical missions through leadership and innovation in developing and delivering cyber training for DoD personnel.

Under Hickton’s leadership, Jacobs’ ATN business saw its revenue increase by more than 13 percent and is well positioned to deliver a double-digit year-over-year increase in profit based on the acquisition of KeyW and the highly successful execution of the ATN business strategy. 

Executive Mosaic congratulates Jacobs and Dawne Hickton for being selected into the 2020 Wash100. Hickton's leadership, business strategy and commitment to innovation could make her one of the most influential members of the GovCon community in 2020. 

About Wash100 

The Wash100 award, now in its seventh year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision. 

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2020 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2020.