ARA Board of Directors Announces New CEO, COO
Albuquerque, NM, Sept. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) is pleased to announce that Curt Beckemeyer has been selected to serve as ARA’s next president and CEO, effective Oct. 1. Beckemeyer will succeed Rob Sues, who has led ARA since 2004, following the culmination of the ARA Board of Directors’ five-year succession planning process.
Beckemeyer is an ARA senior vice president and currently serves as ARA’s deputy CEO of Technical Operations. Beckemeyer joined ARA in 1999 and has more than 35 years of engineering and leadership experience.
In his current position, Beckemeyer oversees ARA’s technical operations, including sophisticated technical services, products, and solutions across a diverse range of national security, infrastructure, environment, energy, and health sciences business areas.
As president and CEO, Beckemeyer will help ensure ARA’s continued growth and alignment on the company’s mission, purpose, vision, and core values, as well as lead the executive team and make investment and organizational structure decisions.
Beckemeyer earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Illinois and is a registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) in several states. He is also active in numerous professional organizations, including serving as a member of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Board of Directors and on technical committees for the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
“I’m confident Curt will help ARA effectively pursue its long-term goals and continue to solve problems of national importance,” Sues said. “I look forward to seeing ARA prosper under his leadership.”
The company is also pleased to announce that, upon Beckemeyer’s recommendation, the board selected William “Brother” Ratliff as executive vice president (EVP) and chief operating officer (COO), effective Oct. 1.
As COO, Ratliff will oversee the technical operations of ARA, while assisting with key decision making and the implementation of strategic initiatives. In this role, Ratliff will help ensure operational activities are aligned with ARA’s overall mission, vision, and strategic objectives.
Ratliff joined ARA in 2008 and has since served in numerous roles. He has performed operations research providing test and evaluation support and program management for several Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other defense-related programs.
Prior to joining ARA, Ratliff served in the U.S. Army for 20 years, holding various command and staff positions leading infantry and aviation operations as well as performing operations research and systems analysis for the Army staff. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Military Academy and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University.
“Brother is a visionary leader,” Beckemeyer said. “Throughout his career at ARA, he has demonstrated success through a clearly articulated vision, the disciplined execution of key strategies, strong determination, and hard work.”
The appointment of Beckemeyer and Ratliff to these roles will help further ARA’s vision to be the company that government and industry turn to for innovative solutions to critical human problems that will make our world safer, make us more secure, and make a difference in our daily lives.
About ARA
Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) was founded in 1979, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to offer science and engineering research to solve problems of national importance. ARA delivers leading-edge products and innovative solutions for national defense, energy, homeland security, aerospace, healthcare, transportation, and manufacturing. With over 2,300 employee-owners at locations in the U.S. and Canada, ARA offers a broad range of technical expertise in defense technologies, civil engineering, computer software and simulation, systems analysis, biomedical engineering, environmental technologies, and blast testing and measurement.
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CONTACT: Applied Research Associates, Inc. 505-214-8183 [email protected]
