Samuel Metters, DPA, P.E.
Chairman and CEO, Metters Industries, Inc.
Dr. Samuel Metters is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Metters Industries, Inc. The company, started in his basement in 1981, has become a successful engineering firm with seven offices nationwide and approximately 300 employees.
Dr. Metters formulates all strategic planning activities and determines company policies to further corporate goals and objectives. He develops marketing strategies and promotes business opportunities with the federal, state, and local government, as well as private industry. He is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in Command, Control, and Communications (C3) systems, nuclear weapons risk assessment, systems analysis, linear programming, forecasting techniques, and Simulation and Modeling.
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 earned 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 disabled veteran Lieutenant Colonel, is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army Air Defense Missile Center, the Nuclear Weapons Warhead Assembly School, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is also a graduate of the Owner/President Management (OPM) Corporate Executive Program of 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 on 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 Center to include White Sands McGregor and Missile Ranges in New Mexico. He was highly decorated for his services as an S-3 Air Artillery Officer-observer in Vietnam, and as a Logistics Officer of a HAWK Missile Group Brigade in Germany. Dr. Metters’ notable decorations include three Bronze Stars, the Air Medal, the Meritorious Service Award, two Army Commendation Medals, and the 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, 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. He is also the recipient of the U.S. Navy “Lone Sailor” Memorial Award for sponsoring the documentary “Proudly We Served”, narrated by the late Ossie Davis and leading a delegation of WWII veterans to be recognized for their heroic actions.
Dr. Metters appointments on several former and current professional boards and councils include: 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 veteran, and was selected to testify before the 1996 Commission on Veterans Affairs to investigate improvements in veterans’ benefits. The Commission was chaired by the Honorable Anthony Principi, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs who is currently Chairman of the BRAC (Base Realignment And Closure) Committee. 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 Development Act of 1999; and Public Law 108-183, the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003. On March 13, 2003 Dr. Metters 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.
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 D.C. 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 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 Directors 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 North-East 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 boasts 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: a Treasure Worth Preserving." He is the Founder and President of the 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 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 and most recently the 2011 Washington Business Journal’s Minority Business Leader Award.
Dr. Metters has written numerous papers and articles on space exploration initiatives, civil and military missile defense preparedness, city and urban planning, and the Systems Approach to Management.
PUBLICATIONS:
Doctoral Thesis: “Examining the Issue of Leadership Styles Among Junior and Mid-level U.S. Army Leaders with Respect to the KAI Leadership Assessment Model”.
Written over thirty papers in the areas of systems management and Urban Transportation Systems Planning to include WARSAW PAC's first use of nuclear weapons.
Listed in "Who's Who in the South and Southwest".
Football Scholarship (Awarded distinction of first varsity graduate of School of Engineering, Prairie View A&M University).
RECOGNITIONS:
Presidential (Bush) Appointment to Board of Directors, Veteran's Corporation, Inc. (FFRDC)
Presidential Appointment (Clinton) NASA Advisory Committee. Two-year terms
Governor's Appointment (Warner) to State of Virginia Board of Directors Veteran Service, Chairman Strategic Planning
White House Appointment to Small Business Administration, Veterans Business Development Committee
Recipient of Howard University's Awards, Salute to Blacks in Business
Member Selection Committee US Black Engineer Baltimore, Maryland
Recipient of the Boy Scouts of America/NCAC’s Silver Beaver Award
Recipient of the Boy Scouts of America/NCAC’s Silver Beaver Class Award
Founder of Metters Foundation - Dedicated to Scholarships 30% of my personal Annual salary was equally divided among my Church; Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts of America; and PV AMD.
Virginia Urban League Award
2011 Washington Business Journal’s Minority Business Leader
AFFILIATIONS:
Life Member, University of Southern California Alumni Association
Life Member, Alumni Chapter Kappa Alpha Greek Fraternity
Trustee, Saint Rest Baptist Church
Member of a number of religious and professional charitable organizations, to include the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Planning Association.
Charter Member Virginia Commerce Bank
Member of the Board of Governors of the Wesley Theological Seminary
AWARDS:
Three Bronze Stars, Air Medal, Meritorious Service Award; two Army Commendation Medals; Viet Nam Honor Medal; Viet Nam Staff Medal; two Civil Action Medals; and the Purple Heart.
Recipient of the U.S. Navy “Lone Sailor” Memorial Award for sponsoring the documentary “Proudly We Served”, narrated by the late Ossie Davis and leading a delegation of WWII veterans to be recognized for their heroic actions.