Captain William Toti, USN (Ret)

Captain William Toti, US Navy (Retired), has more than 40 years of experience in defense. In three years as CEO of Sparton, he was able to restructure and double the company’s value, taking it through the sale of Sparton by Cerberus Capital Management to Elbit Systems of America. Prior to joining Sparton he spent more than a decade running multi-billion-dollar global defense businesses, for both products and services, including as president of the Integrated Maritime Systems sector at L3, as vice president of the defense segment of HP, HPE, and DXC, as president of Cubic Global Defense, and as vice president of Raytheon’s Mission Support Operations. He has served on Boards of Directors of ERAPSCO, JT3, and the Italian defense company Calzoni.

Captain Toti also served for more than 26 years in the U.S. Navy, including tours as commander of Fleet Antisubmarine Warfare Command Norfolk, as commodore of Submarine Squadron 3, and as commanding officer of the nuclear fast attack submarine USS Indianapolis (SSN-697). He served for more than nine years in the Pentagon, including tours as special assistant to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, as Navy representative to the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, and as deputy director of the Navy War Plans Cell, Deep Blue. Mr. Toti is the creator/author of the US Navy’s current “Full Spectrum Antisubmarine Warfare” concept of operations.

Captain Toti holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the U.S. Naval Academy, a master’s degree in spacecraft systems engineering, the pre-doctoral Electrical Engineer degree from the Naval Postgraduate School, and has done executive coursework at the Harvard Business School. He served as a Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution and as a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Fellow in International Affairs. He has more than 30 published articles and op-ed pieces and was the U.S. Naval Institute Author of the Year in 2001. He was a 2012 member of the White House Roundtable on Military Credentialing in support of an initiative to help transitioning service members receive civilian credentials and licenses.

Mr. Toti has worked to support the survivors of the World War II cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) for more than 25 years, was named an honorary survivor and their honorary captain in 2005, and has been featured in several global release documentaries on that storied ship, including “USS Indianapolis: Live from the Deep” (2017, PBS), “USS Indianapolis: Legacy Project” (2016, Tiny Horse Productions), and “USS Indianapolis: the Final Chapter” (2019, PBS).

His narrative titled “Antoinette,” describing his experiences during the September 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon was incorporated into the book Operation Homecoming, published by Random House (2006). He was featured in the 2016 PBS documentary, “9/11: Inside the Pentagon” and the 2020 History Channel documentary “9/11: The Pentagon.”, and the 2021 National Geographic six-part docuseries, “9/11: One Day in America.”

Captain William Toti, US Navy (Retired), is a seven-time recipient of the Legion of Merit, a recipient of the “Wash 100” list of most influential leaders in the government contractor sector (2016), HP Executive of the Year (2013), the FedScoop 50 Industry Leadership Award (2012), and the Rear Admiral John J. Bergen Industry Award from the Navy League of the United States (2010). He is a lifetime member of the U.S. Naval Institute, the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, the National Eagle Scouts Association, and as an adult leader was awarded the Honor Medal by the Boy Scouts of America (2002).