John Bennett leads a Quality and Operational Excellence team at UT Southwestern where he is assisting in the healthcare systems journey to become a highly reliable organization (HRO). He leads several Master Black Belts, Black belts, Industrial Engineers and Project and Program Managers to perform continuous Improvement on the healthcare system. He is working with the academic side of UT Southwestern to evaluate and update the Lean Six Sigma curriculum for healthcare. John joined UT Southwestern after departing PAE where is assisted in the transition of PAE to Amentum via a purchase by that firm in 2022.

While at PAE, Mr. Bennett was responsible for the CI Vision, Strategy, and Training for the corporation, while leveraging Lean Six Sigma as a fundamental building block of a CI and Quality Culture. Collaborate with business unit and functional leaders and provide direct leadership for strategic enterprise-wide process improvement initiatives and delivery of world class services. He manages and coaches’ corporate and deployed Continuous Improvement, ES&H, and Quality resources embedded in PAE business units/programs all over the world. Facilitate Executive Process Improvement Steering Committee to ensure projects align with and help shape corporate strategy. He has led a department that has been credited with savings over $65M in EBIT over a four year period and implemented a training program that trains from new employee on Continuous Improvement all the way through LSS Master Black Belt.

John joined PAE in February of 2017, prior to joining PAE; He worked at DynCorp International as Sr Director of Performance Excellence where he directed all CI, Quality, ESH and Program Management COE efforts for 4.5 years, prior to that he worked at ITT Industries for 12 years and held a succession of increasingly responsible technical and management positions. Previous positions include Proposal/Capture Management, Maintenance Manager, Deputy Program Manager, Program Manager, Director of Quality, Lean Six Sigma, and Integrated Management System Champion, where he was responsible for all Value based elements of the IMS to include Strategic Planning. Prior to departing ITT, John was a member of the core team that helped the business perform a tax-free spin-off into three separate, publicly traded companies.

Mr. Bennett began his career with both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army as an Enlisted member and as a Commissioned Officer. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Montana State University. He also holds a Master of Business Administration and a PhD. in Management and applied sciences, with a focus on Leadership and change management. He currently teaches at UT Arlington offering a series of classes that end in a certificate in International Logistics.

He holds certifications for CPHQ, Green Belt, Black Belt, Lean Master, and Master Black Belt. He is a certified Lead Auditor for AS 9100D, ISO 9001:2015, PSC.1 (ISO 18788) and a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ). Mr. Bennett is also an active member of the community participating in many charitable organizations and is a member of the Board of Directors for a national veteran’s organization.