George Bedar, Chief Strategy Officer
George Bedar is our strategy leader leveraging his decades of technology leadership experience. He joined us at the beginning of 2024 to help us grow our business. At the end of 2023, George retired as the Chief Information Officer for Fitness International (LA Fitness, Esporta Fitness, Club Studio, and City Sports) based in Irvine, CA after almost 19 years in that position.
Prior to joining Fitness International in 2005, George had a variety of technology related positions from both sides of the technology business. These positions included a Program Manager in the support organization at Microsoft focused on readiness of the US Support organization, the Chief Information Officer of CKE Restaurants (Carl’s Jr and Hardees) while it grew from a regional chain of a few hundred restaurants to an international business with over 3,000 restaurants, and a consultant engaged in major software development projects for the US Department of Defense and the Iceland Air Defense System.
George retired from a successful career in the US Marine Corps in 1994. Primarily he served as a Naval Flight Officer flying in the A-6E Intruder all-weather attack jet. During his career, interspersed between operational flying assignments, he had two technology related assignments. One at the Marine Tactical Systems Support Activity as a project officer responsible for the software maintenance of the then current Marine Corps Air Command and Control System and the acquisition and development of a new, leading-edge technology, replacement for that system. He played a key role for the Marine Corps in making decisions about software engineering and software development for major tactical software systems. He concluded his career with the Marines with his assignment as a Master Instructor of Computer Science at the US Naval Academy.
George holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Houston and a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from Stephen F Austin State University. He is an active instrument rated private pilot, enjoys riding motorcycles, and owning two off-the-track thoroughbred racehorses, Milyone and Ziconic, who are trained for their second career in jumping after retiring from the racetrack.