A recognized leader in growing smaller businesses into profitable companies, Walter P. Batson, Jr. currently serves as the CEO and Chairman of Interfuze Corporation, a company that he co-founded in 2016. Since then, he has led Interfuze in its acquisition of two other companies and continues to grow the company to this day.
Batson was born on July 31, 1944, in Birmingham, and attended The University of Alabama, first graduating in 1966 with a bachelors in statistics. After a few years in the workforce at the U.S. Army Missile Command, or MICOM, in Huntsville, he returned to the Capstone to earn both a bachelor’s in accounting and a Master of Arts in operations research in 1970. He continued to work at MICOM until 1979, managing large studies related to weapons effectiveness.
In 1979, he joined John M. Cockerham and Associates, Inc., in Huntsville as vice president, overseeing operations of the government services contractor. Batson wrote the first five major proposals that yielded contracts to grow the firm from six employees to almost 200.
On the heels of this work, in 1986, he was brought on as executive vice president of Hilton Systems, Inc. in Huntsville. There, Batson designed and implemented a new business strategy that included hiring, operations, and the development of a corporate culture. Under his direction, Hilton Systems grew from a small, unprofitable company with one customer to a nationwide organization boasting over $20 million a year in sales.
He then went on to co-found Camber Corporation in 1990 and serve as the CEO and chairman. A diversified organization that was selected by Inc. Magazine as one of the country’s fastest growing companies in 1995 and 1996, Camber grew from a startup of three employees at its beginning to a company producing almost $500 million in annual revenue under Batson’s leadership. While at the helm, Batson negotiated several acquisitions, including a flight simulator business and an air traffic control products business. He also developed an arm of the organization that deployed the flight simulator technology in an entertainment context — Camber Entertainment became an industry leader in less than three years and was eventually spun-off.
In 1998, Batson spearheaded the formation of an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, which allowed employees to become employee-owners. During its history, Camber built flight and entertainment ride simulators and biological detectors, developed training systems for state, local, and federal governments, and created information systems, engineering support services, acquisition management support and program management support to clients including the U.S. Military and NASA.
Active in service, leadership, and philanthropy, Batson has chaired or served on the board of directors for organizations including Biztech, Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, ARC of Madison County, and numerous civic organizations like the March of Dimes. He also coached girls softball for 12 years.
Batson married his wife, Margaret, in 1972, and they have four daughters and one son: Mary Margaret Johnson, Bobby Batson, Dianne Jacobs, Brooke Browning, and Wendy Henshaw. Avid supporters of The University of Alabama, the couple are 2017 inductees of the Bryant Society, and Batson is a member of the Culverhouse College of Business Board of Visitors and UA’s President’s Cabinet. They are also active in the First Methodist Church of Huntsville.
