August 18, 2008 07:56 ET

AMERICAN SYSTEMS Appoints James Kuiken to Lead Citizen Safety Strategic Business Area

Industry Veteran Brings Extensive Military and Management Experience to Citizen Safety Programs

CHANTILLY, VA--(Marketwire - August 18, 2008) - AMERICAN SYSTEMS, a government and commercial IT solutions provider and one of the top 100 employee-owned companies in the U.S., today announced the appointment of James A. Kuiken to the position of vice president, Citizen Safety Strategic Business Area (SBA). In this role, Kuiken will develop new business and reinforce AMERICAN SYSTEMS' expertise in the planning and execution of mission critical programs for the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement agencies.

"For more than 30 years, AMERICAN SYSTEMS has provided focused mission support for agencies tasked with protecting the lives, property and rights of American citizens while balancing security with freedom, privacy with intelligence and benefits with cost," said William C. Hoover, president and CEO of AMERICAN SYSTEMS. "Jim brings to AMERICAN SYSTEMS a robust understanding of today's most pressing homeland security and management issues, and will further strengthen our ability to help customers detect, prevent and respond to public safety and homeland security events."

Kuiken joins AMERICAN SYSTEMS from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he served most recently as assistant director for operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Training and Development. His five year tenure at DHS also included roles as director at ICE, DHS Attaché to Iraq and regional director, Middle East & Africa, DHS Office of International Affairs. In this last role, he had oversight of all DHS programs related to each of the 78 countries within the region.

Prior to joining DHS in 2003, Jim held senior positions with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Marine Corps.

Kuiken is a graduate of American University, where he earned a master's degree in public administration, and also completed the Executive Potential Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School. In addition, Kuiken is a two-time recipient of the Senatorial Medal of Freedom, each of which were awarded by a unanimous vote of the U.S. Senate majority, and is a former federal Senior Executive Service (SES) member.

About AMERICAN SYSTEMS

Founded in 1975, AMERICAN SYSTEMS is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the United States, with approximately 1,500 employees nationwide. Based in the Washington, DC, suburb of Chantilly, VA, the company provides systems engineering, technical and managed services to government and enterprise customers. AMERICAN SYSTEMS was named "Contractor of the Year" at the Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards in October 2007. For more information, please visit: www.AmericanSystems.com.