Executive Team

James M. Jaska

Chief Executive Officer

Mr.Mr. Jaska is President and Chief Executive Officer of Versar, Inc (Versar), is an accomplished executive in global business strategy, growth, organizational performance, and innovation. With over forty years leading large multi-national organizations and operational experience in six continents delivering profitable growth, governance and value creation, Mr. Jaska is credited for his team-centric attitude and work in numerous government sectors and commercial markets from critical mission support, professional services, technology, infrastructure to aerospace and defense, manufacturing, and specialty chemicals segments. With executive management and board experience at both public and private companies, he has an extensive background developing organizations and high-performing teams that accomplish performance objectives for business's most difficult challenges from start-ups to large multi-national enterprises. Having completed over fifty acquisition transactions, he has extensive experience integrating operational capabilities and organizational practices to accelerate business growth among the merger partners.

Mr. Jaska previously was the principal founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Valiant Integrated Services LLC (Valiant), which provides critical mission support and defense business services for the U.S. Government, its allied partners, and international organizations. Under his guidance, the company experienced double digit profitable growth and won the 2020 ACG National Chapter award as "Corporate Growth Company of the Year" (over $250M).

Just prior to launching Valiant, Mr. Jaska served as the President and Chief Executive of the Supreme Group, Defense and Government Services business and a member of the Executive Committee. In this role, he led the company's global logistics, supply chain and facility management business.

Mr. Jaska also held multiple executive roles at AECOM Technology Corporation (NYSE: ACM a Fortune 500 company that provides professional technical and management support services to the public and private sectors. As a member of AECOM's Enterprise Management Team and the Operations Committee, Mr. Jaska oversaw the company's worldwide operations of its government group operating in 140 countries while serving as President, Global Government.

Prior to joining AECOM, Mr. Jaska served as President of Tetra Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTEK), a global provider of professional technical services in engineering, applied sciences, resource management, and infrastructure. He was credited as one of the principal architects of the company's sustained organic and acquisitive growth having joined the firm as its Chief Financial Officer.

BefBefore his tenure at Tetra Tech, Mr. Jaska held senior management positions in operations, financial management, and business development in the formative years of Orbital ATK, Inc. (NYSE: OA), a multi-billion-dollar defense firm, as well as with Honeywell, Inc. (NYSE: HON), a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing company. Mr. Jaska began his professional career with Ecolab (NYSE: ECL).

Mr. Jaska has served on numerous companies, professional association and community boards and executive committees. He currently serves on the BWX Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BWXT) board and as its Governance Committee Chair and Versar, Inc. He has served on other boards including Valiant Integrated Services LLC, Tetra Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTEK), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Professional Services Council as its Vice Chairman and Society of American Military Engineers. He holds a bachelor's and master's degrees from Western Illinois University and continuing education in several executive management programs.

Christopher Phelps, CFAO

Chief Financial & Administrative Officer

Chris Phelps serves as the Chief Financial & Administrative Officer (CFAO) of Versar Inc. and brings 15 years of finance and administrative experience plus a proven track record of delivering profitable growth and building high-performance finance and accounting teams. Before being appointed to Versar's CFAO role, Chris held senior finance roles in financial operations, financial planning & reporting, treasury, and financial systems in Commercial and Government sectors, ranging in size from Fortune 500 public and more recently in middle market PE sponsored private companies.

Prior to joining Versar, Chris served as the Vice President of Finance at Iron Bow Technologies where he led the finance, reporting, and treasury functions, as well as administrative functions. Chris served in a similar capacity at Valiant Integrated Services. He led the stand-up of the finance function, transformative activities, which were related to several M&A integrations as the company rapidly expanded. In his early career, Chris held senior operational finance and pricing roles at GardaWorld LLC and AECOM.

CChris also has direct international experience with defense security operations, primarily in Kabul, Afghanistan, and other similar locations, including work with the intelligence community. His comprehensive background includes executive roles in the highly competitive commercial engineering and impact assessment services market within U.S. national, regional, and major urban markets.

Chris began his career with BAE Systems, in various roles and disciplines within finance at BAE Systems, where he was a participant in the Financial Leadership Development Program (FLDP).

Chris graduated from Bryant University in Smithfield, RI with a BS in Business Administration Concentrated in Finance. He also received an MBA from Arizona State University, W.P Carey School of Business in Tempe, AZ, with a focus in Finance.

Dr. Jiri Maly

Chief Growth Officer

Dr. Jiri Maly is a senior business executive with over 26 years of operations, finance, M&A, and capital projects experience, successfully building, leading, and growing businesses in the defense, infrastructure, utilities, industrials, and natural resource sectors.

Jiri was President and CEO of LBS from 2016 to 2023, when LBS merged with Versar. During his time with Versar Jiri has implemented a comprehensive organizational transformation involving a refocusing of the business strategy, organizational restructuring, consolidation of offices, streamlining of the company's systems and processes, and implementation of clearer and more efficient operational procedures. Together with management, Jiri re-oriented the commercial strategy to more fully exploit the business's distinctive capabilities; both in the Defense and Logistics market, and to capture new commercial markets in fuels, power, and roadways asset maintenance. Jiri's approach leverages the varied experiences and capabilities of senior management to both seize new opportunities and, when necessary, tackle any challenges that may arise.

Jiri previously served as an Expert Principal at McKinsey Company for sixteen years before transitioning to Managing Director of Global Infrastructure for CIBC Capital Markets. Jiri has worked with numerous clients to deliver multibillion dollar capital projects while functioning as an integral part of senior management teams. Jiri holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Chicago, as well as Bachelor of Science degrees in both Applied Mathematics and Chemical Physics. Jiri also serves on the board of directors for the American Friends of the Czech Republic.

Michael Bauer

Michael Bauer serves as Versar's Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel, and Head of Global Compliance. In this role, he oversees the company's legal, public policy, corporate compliance, ethics, governance, and litigation responsibilities.

Michael is an experienced legal, intellectual property, contracts, and litigation executive most recently serving as a Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at WSP, one of the largest professional service firms in the world with nearly $12 billion in annual revenue.

Before WSP, Michael served as Deputy General Counsel at Golder Associates where he established Golder's global compliance program and served as a trusted counsel in areas of law including anti-bribery/corruption, sanctions, and modern slavery. He prepared and presented bespoke trainings in these areas to audiences across the globe.

Prior to Golder Associates, Michael held senior legal roles at URS and AECOM (following AECOM's acquisition of URS). In these roles, he had primary legal responsibility for multiple offices and handled contract negotiations as well as claims and litigation.

Michael also practiced at several law firms in the Washington, DC region, including Seyfarth Shaw LLP, and Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald. During his time in private practice, he routinely played integral roles in complex cases ranging from litigation involving pipeline pulls under the Tigris River in Iraq to multimillion-dollar condominium projects in the US.

Michael received his BS in Science, Technology, and International Affairs from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and his Juris Doctor from the Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Suzanne J. Bates

Senior Vice President, Applied Professional and Technology Solutions

Suzanne Bates, B.S., M.S. joined Versar in September 2013 as a senior program manager and lead operations manager. Currently, Suzanne serves as Senior Vice President and Group Manager for Versar's Environmental Services Group. Prior to joining Versar, Suzanne served as the Environmental Group Lead for Geo-Marine, Inc, leading programs and projects focused on the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi with a Bachelors of Science degree in biology and chemistry and a Masters of Science degree in marine sciences.

Timothy (Tim) Tope, P.E.

Senior Vice President, Mission & Integrated Management Services

Timothy (Tim) J. Tope is a senior business executive with 26 years of experience in developing, managing, and implementing significant infrastructure and operational programs for U.S. defense agencies.

Before joining LBS - now merged and rebranded as Versar - Tim was responsible for sales, capture and business development of Parsons Energy, Security and Defense Services and Chemical Demilitarization Division, where he directly led capture of over $1.5 billion in new contract awards. Prior to joining Parsons in 2006, he was Vice President, Federal Programs, URS Group, Inc., where he served as national account manager for US Navy Programs and directed URS's southeast federal business development and marketing efforts. During his time at URS, Tim also stood up and led URS's range, demilitarization and munitions -operations growing it to a $50+ million annual business.

Tim is a registered, licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) in the State of Tennessee. He attended Vanderbilt University, where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering in civil and environmental engineering, and Master of Science in environmental and water resources engineering. Immediately upon graduation Tim served as a commissioned U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer officer for six (6) years until entering private industry and continuing his support to US defense and security programs.