Northrop Grumman Corporation announced that its board of directors has elected Ronald D. Sugar, the company's chief executive officer and president, as Northrop
Grumman's next chairman of the board.
Effective Oct. 1, 2003, Sugar, 55, will be chairman, chief executive
officer and president. As previously announced, Kent Kresa, who has served as
chairman since 1990, will retire on that date. Kresa stepped down in April
2003 as president and chief executive officer.
"I am honored to lead one of the nation's most dynamic and effective
boards," said Sugar. "The Northrop Grumman board has taken bold steps in
recent years, assembling the essential capabilities and technologies to
position the company to contribute to our nation's highest priority 21st
century defense and
homeland security programs."
Sugar was
elected president and chief operating officer of Northrop
Grumman in September 2001 and its chief executive officer in April 2003. He
has served as a member of the Northrop Grumman board of directors since 2001.
Prior to joining Northrop Grumman in 2001, Sugar served as president,
chief operating officer and a member of the board of directors of Litton
Industries, a company acquired by Northrop Grumman in April 2001. Previously,
Sugar had been president and chief operating officer of TRW Aerospace and
Information Systems and a member of the chief executive office of TRW Inc. In
his nearly 20 years with TRW, Sugar also served as that company's chief
financial officer and as executive vice president and general manager of TRW's
global automotive electronics business. Earlier, he was vice president of TRW
Space Communications Division and played key roles in TRW's advanced military,
scientific, and commercial space and electronics programs.
Sugar previously held technical and management positions with Hughes
Aircraft Co., Argosystems Inc. and The Aerospace Corporation.
In 1968, Sugar graduated summa cum laude in electrical engineering from
the University of California at Los Angeles, where he also received master's
(1969) and doctoral degrees (1971) in the same field. In 1996, he was honored
by his alma mater as alumnus of the year. He has completed executive
education programs at Stanford University, the Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.