Marillyn Adams Hewson (born December 27, 1953) is an American businesswoman who served as the chairman, president and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) of

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

from January 2013 to June 2020. She is currently the strategic advisor to the CEO of aerospace and defense manufacturing company Lockheed Martin. On March 1, 2021, she retired as executive chairman and a board member.

Biography

Early life and education

Hewson was born in

Junction City, Kansas Junction City is a city in and the county seat of Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,932. Fort Riley, a major U.S. Army post, is nearby. History Junction City is so named from its ...

to Warren Adams and Mary Adams. Her father died when she was nine-years-old and her mother, a former WAC, raised five siblings, then aged five to 15. Hewson credits her mother's resilience, hard work, and determination with teaching her leadership skills and wrote, in "A mother's resilience", for ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'', in 2013, that "My mother did what all great leaders do: she sparked the growth of future leaders." She earned her

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

and her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

. She also attended the

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

and Harvard Business School executive development programs.

Career

Hewson joined the Lockheed Corporation in 1983 after 4 years as an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. She has held a variety of executive positions with the company, including President and Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin's Electronic Systems business area, President of Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, Executive Vice President of Global Sustainment for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, President and General Manager of Kelly Aviation Center, L.P., and President of Lockheed Martin Logistics Services. On November 9, 2012, she was elected to Lockheed Martin's board of directors. She subsequently served as CEO from January 2013 until June 2020. She has also served on the board of directors for

Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Ba ...

since 2010 and

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

since 2007. During her tenure as CEO, Lockheed's stock value increased more than 300%. In July 2015, Hewson announced Lockheed's purchase of

Sikorsky Aircraft Sikorsky Aircraft is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. It was established by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky in 1923 and was among the first companies to manufacture helicopters for civilian and military use. Pre ...

, the producers of

Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift Utility helicopter, utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transpo ...

helicopters, giving Lockheed its own helicopter building capability. Hewson also shifted more company efforts towards building military hardware. Hewson joined the board of

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

in 2019. On March 16, 2020, Lockheed announced that Hewson would become the executive chair of the board and be replaced as CEO on June 15. James Taiclet will take the lead after Hewson.

Recognition

In 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015 she was named by ''Fortune'' magazine as one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business". In the September 15, 2015 issue of ''Fortune'', Hewson was ranked 4th. In 2018, Hewson was named the most powerful woman in the business world by ''Fortune''. Hewson was named the 21st most powerful woman in the world by ''Forbes'' in 2014, and, in 2015, as the 20th most powerful woman in the world. In 2018, she was named the ninth most powerful woman in the world by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

''. In 2019 she was listed as number 10. Hewson was inducted into the 2017 edition of the Wash100 for international market focus and F-35 leadership. In 2017, Hewson was listed at #35 on the ''

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. ''HBR'' is published six times a year and is headquartered in Brighton, Massach ...

'' "The Best-Performing CEOs in the World 2017" list. Hewson was named "CEO of the Year" for 2018 by ''

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

'' magazine, and was a member of the selection committee for 2019. In 2018, Hewson was also awarded the

Edison Achievement Award Edison Awards is an American company that runs an annual competition honoring excellence in innovation in a broad range of categories. Company The Edison Awards were established by the American Marketing Association in 1987 and has been an in ...

for her leadership and achievements in making a lasting contribution to the world of innovation. Hewson was named one of

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

magazine's ''100 Most Influential People of 2019''. In 2019, Hewson received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

presented by General

Joseph Ralston General Joseph Wood Ralston (born November 4, 1943) is currently the United States Special Envoy for countering the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and holds senior positions in various defense related corporations. He was previously a career offic ...

, USAF, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

Personal

Hewson is married to James R. Hewson and lives in

McLean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Goidelic languages, Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish language, Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John (given name), John). The clan surname is an A ...

, Virginia, as of 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewson, Marillyn Living people Lockheed Martin people Directors of DuPont University of Alabama alumni American chairpersons of corporations American technology chief executives American women chief executives Columbia Business School alumni American chief executives of manufacturing companies Women corporate executives People from Junction City, Kansas 1954 births 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies Sandia National Laboratories people 21st-century American businesswomen