Battelle Board Selects Navy Vet Kirkland Donald for Chairman Post; Lou Von Thaer Quoted

The board of directors at Battelle has appointed Kirkland “Kirk” Donald, a 37-year U.S. Navy veteran, to succeed John Welch as chairman.

Welch, who has held the chairman role since 2012, will retire from the nonprofit applied science and technology development company after 21 years of service, Battelle said Tuesday.

Donald has served as the nonprofit’s board member over the past seven years and as chairman at military shipbuilder HII (NYSE: HII) since April 28, 2020.

He was director of the Navy’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program prior to his retirement from the service branch in 2013 with the rank of admiral.

“Kirk’s deep knowledge and keen insight into military and energy technology has been a tremendous asset to Battelle and he will be an effective and valued leader of our Board as we move into the future,” said Lou Von Thaer, president and CEO of Battelle and a seven-time Wash100 Award recipient.

After his military career, Donald joined Systems Planning & Analysis as an executive vice president and was promoted to president and CEO in January 2014.

The Navy veteran holds a seat on the boards of Centrus Energy, CyberCore Technologies, Entergy Corporation and the Naval Submarine League.

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