Samuel Metters, DPA, P.E.
Chairman and CEO, Metters Incorporated
Dr. Samuel Metters is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Metters Incorporate. The company started in his basement in 1981, has become a successful engineering firm headquartered in McLean, VA, with a Nationwide and international presence.
Dr. Metters received a B.S. in Architectural Engineering from Prairie View A&M University and a B.A. in Architecture and Urban Planning from the University of California at Berkeley. He also received an M.S. in Systems Management, an M.S. in public Administration, and a Doctorate in Public Administration (with a concentration in Systems Management, Research and Development) from the University of Southern California. During his graduate and post-graduate school years, he was employed at an architectural firm that constructed affordable modular housing for low and moderate-income families in the Oakland, California metropolitan area. A product of public housing, Dr. Metters has long taken a keen interest in making fair and affordable housing a reality for all Americans.
Dr. Metters, a retired (Reserved) Lieutenant Colonel, is a graduate of the U.S. Army Air Defense Missile Center, the Nuclear Weapons Warhead Assembly School, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. His is a graduate of the Owner/President Management (OPM) Corporate Executive Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in Cambridge, MA. He is also a registered licensed Professional Engineer.
During his military career, Dr. Metters achieved distinction as Commander of a Surface-to-Air missile battery (NIKE Hercules nuclear missile system). This system was highlighted in a 1987 CBS commentary as the Cornerstone of America’s Air Defense in the late 1960’s. He was a senior instructor at the U.S. Army Air Defense Missile School Center. Dr. Metters was highly decorated for his services as an S-3 Artillery Officer-observer in Vietnam, and as a logistics officer of a HAWK Missile Brigade in Germany. Dr. Metters’ notable decorations include the Air Medal, three Bronze Stars, three Army Commendation medals, the Meritorious Service medal, and a Purple Heart, as well as numerous medals of commendation from the Republic of South Vietnam in 1968 during the Vietnam War.
Dr. Metters was the Program Manager and Management Information Systems (MIS) coordinator at HBH (Hughes, Bendix & Holmes and Narver Engineering) – a joint venture, Rosslyn, VA based company, for a U.S. Navy sponsored initiative in the middle east. He supervised a primary staff of nine senior level architects and engineers, and coordinated infrastructure planning, and established policies and procedures for a U.S. Navy sponsored contingency of 294 American Professional Engineers and city planners. He also performed program evaluations, long range planning, cost benefit analyses, and impact studies. He worked as a naval architect and structural engineer at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.
Dr. Metters sits on several professional boards and councils, including: the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA); the Board of Directors of the U.S. Black Engineers Publication, Inc., 1987; the Board of Directors of the Granville Academy, a high school head-start educational program for inner-city youths; the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Association; the Fairfax Business Partnership Board of Trustees; the Northern Virginia Professional Service Council; the Northern Virginia Urban League; the Prairie View A&M University Foundation; the Rosslyn Renaissance Urban Design Committee of Arlington, Virginia; the Shiloh Economic & Community Development Corporation (SECDC); the Shiloh Board of Trustees; the South East Conference for Minority Engineers (SECME); the United Black College Fund; and the U.S. Black Engineer of the Year Award Program.
He is a service disabled veterans, and was selected to testify before the 1996 Commission on Veterans Affairs to investigate improvements in veterans’ benefits. The Commission was chaired by Mr. Anthony Principi who was later appointed the 4th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 2001. Dr. Metters’ participation and the resulting 1996 Commission’s efforts contributed to the creation of Public Law 106-50, the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Act of 2003. Dr. Metters received an appointment by Hector V. Barreto, Administrator, for U.S. Small Business Administration, from 2001-2006, to a four year term to the Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Business Affairs. He has also received a gubernatorial appointment to serve on the State of Virginia Veterans Strategic Policy Board.
Dr. Metters is the co-founder of the NASA Career Exploration Program (NCEP), which introduces junior high and high school students from the greater Washington DC area to careers as astronauts in space exploration. He was presented the NASA Special Services Award for this effort in 1997. He later received a political appointment to the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). The Council consists of mathematicians, scientists, deans of astronomy, aeronautical engineers and former astronauts. They advise the NASA Administrator on policies and national strategies for space exploration with the primary purpose of improving the quality of life on earth. Dr. Metters served two consecutive two-year terms, upon the request of the NASA Administrator. In 2001, at the conclusion of his second term, he was presented the NASA public Service Medal for his contribution to the Nation’s Space Program.
Dr. Metters is a past president and CEO of the Executive Board of the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America (NCAC/BSA), which oversees 70,000 scouts and 28,000 volunteers in the Washington DC Metropolitan area. In 2002, he was elected as a member of the Northeast Region Board of Directors of the BSA. Dr. Metters was the first African American to be elected to the office of President and CEO of the NCAC/BSA since its inception in 1911.
He was inducted into the State of Texas Football Hall of Fame, the Black College Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia, and was the recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award from his Alma Mater, Prairie View A&M University. He is also listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, and Who’s Who Among Black Americans.
Dr. Metters proudly boats the distinction of being the first varsity football player to graduate from the College of Engineering at Prairie View A&M University. As a strong supporter of his Alma Mater, his credo during his tenure as President of the PVAMU National Alumni Association was and still is: “PVAMU: National Alumni Foundation, an organization committed to funding high-end capital special program initiatives for the University.
Dr. Metters is a life-member of the Kappa Alpha PSI Fraternity. Among the myriad awards he has received, Dr. Metters is also the recipient of the Howard University’s recognition of “50 Most Important Black Owned Companies in America,” the Northern Virginia Urban League’s highly prestigious and coveted Community Service Award, and the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC) Community Service Award in 1998 for his support of Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU’s) on a national level.
Dr. Metters has written numerous papers and articles on space exploration initiatives, civil and military missile defense preparedness, city and urban planning, and a systems approach to management.
Received an appointment by the Honorable Hector V. Barreto, Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration, to a four-year term to the Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Business Affairs.
Appointed by the Governor of Virginia as a Member of the Virginia Board of Veterans’ Services.
Academia
Recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award from Alma Mater, Prairie View A&M University Alumni Association.
Past President of the Prairie View A&M University Alumni Association.
Recipient of the Prairie View A&M University commencement speaker citation.
Recipient of the Prairie View A&M University Distinguished Professor for a Day.
Recipient of the Prairie View A&M University Lifetime Achievement Award.
Founder and President of the Prairie View A&M University National Alumni Foundation.
Selected as the convocation speaker for the 50th annual Prairie View A&M University honors convocation.
Inducted into the U.S. Black College Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.
Inducted into the State of Texas Athletic Hall of Fame.
Former member of the Board of Directors of the Granville Academy.
Community Service
Listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, and Who’s Who Among Black Americans.
Recipient of the Northern Virginia Urban League’s highly prestigious and coveted Community Service Award.
Co-founder of the Prairie View A&M University Annual Golf and Tennis Classic fundraiser.
Former member of the Board of Directors of the Shiloh Baptist Church Economic and Community Development Corporation (SECDC).
Member, Board of Trustees, of the Shiloh Baptist Church.
Recipient of the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNJBC) Community Service Award in 1998 for his support of Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU’s) on a national level.
Recipient of the City of Lubbock, Texas Community Service Award (Sam Metters Day).
Recipient of the City of El Paso, Texas Community Service Award (Honorary Citizen).
Boy Scouts of America
Recipient of the Sliver Beaver Award.
Nominated and selected as Class Honoree for the “2005 Class of Silver Beaver’ Awardees of the Boy Scouts of America”.
Former President and CEO of the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Awards, Recognitions, and Citations
U.S. (Patuxent River Small Business Advisory Council).
Profiled in “Pie of the Pie” by Fetty
Distinguished Alumni Graduate Prairie View A&M University, Texas A&M University System (TAMUS)
Designation of Samuel Metters Day, El Paso Texas by Mayor
Designation of Samuel Metters Day, Lubbock Texas by City Council
Howard University Small Business of the Year
Howard University Communications Industry Award
Appointed member of the National Veterans Business Development Corporation through 2012 by President George W. Bush
Member, Harvard Business School Club of Washington, DC