Carey Smith, president and chief operating officer of Parsons (NYSE: PSN) and a 2021 Wash100 Award winner, has been elected by the board of directors to succeed the retiring Chuck Harrington as the company’s CEO, effective July 1.
Harrington, who has been CEO and board chairman since 2008 and a previous Wash100 Award recipient, will transition to the role of executive chairman of the board once he retires, Parsons said Tuesday.
“Carey’s leadership, customer relationships, and proven performance at Parsons make her the natural choice to succeed me as CEO,” said Harrington, who has been with the company for nearly 40 years.
In 2016, Smith joined Parsons as president of the federal solutions business. She elevated to the role of COO in 2018 and led the acquisition and integration of four companies, advanced organic growth and helped transition Parsons into a publicly traded technology company. She assumed additional duties as president in 2019 and joined the company’s board a year later.
Prior to Parsons, she held senior leadership roles at Honeywell (NYSE: HON) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).
She sits on the boards of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, Intelligence and National Security Alliance and the Professional Services Council.
