A native of Athens, Greece, Mr. Pappas immigrated to the United States where he grew up in Knoxville, TN. After graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, he served in destroyers, aircraft squadrons and in special warfare assignments.
Following his military service, Mr. Pappas served in the federal Civill Services as Assistant Branch Head of the Acoustic Warfare Branch at the Naval Research Laboratory.
Upon leaving the Federal Civil Service, Mr. Pappas served in a variety of technical management positions in industry where he worked on a variety of projects. Additional industry experience included: Director of Market Planning, and as Operations Director of a new venture start-up for Computer Sciences Corp.; International Business Development for General Electric Co.; and Vice-President for Test and Evaluation Systems, Vice-President for Special Programs and Vice-President for Systems Development and Integration for BDM International; and President of Polar Reseach Laboratories, a company that developed and manufactued environmental instrumentation.
In academia, Mr. Pappas was the Associate Director of the Valley Forge Research Center of the University of Penn. He served in the federal Senior Executive Service as Chief Engineer of a Navy R&D Center. He was instrumental in starting the National Technology Transfer Center in Wheeling, WV, where he drafted and negotiated the enabling Cooperative Agreement with NASA.
Mr. Pappas is active in pro bono work. He is President of the AFCEA Southern Maryland Chapter, Past-President and Co-Founder of the Greater Southern Maryland Chapter of the US Naval academy Alumni Association, past Maryland State President and National Director of the Navy League of the United States, and Co-Founder and past President of the SEAF ARER Chapter of the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. He has been elected a member of the Board of Governors of the Calvert Marine Museum where he chairs the Development Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee. He served on the Executive Committee of The Patuxent Partnership. He is chair of the Homeland Security Technical Working Group of the SMART Congressional Caucus. He has Recently been appointed as a member of the Calvert County Technology Development Council, a govermental body and is the Founding Executive Director of the National Unmanned Systems Institute.
Mr. Pappas is married to the former Kathleen Zane of Wilmingtong, NC and Baltimore, MD and makes his home in the Solomons, MD area
