Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Dr. Ronald D. Sugar is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Northrop Grumman Corporation, one of the world’s leading defense and technology companies.
Over the past decade, Northrop Grumman has undergone a strategic transformation through a series of successful mergers and acquisitions. Once highly specialized in military aircraft such as the B-2 bomber, the company is today a leader in information technology and services, electronics, aerospace, and shipbuilding. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., Northrop Grumman employs 120,000 people in all 50 states and 25 countries.
Sugar joined the company following its 2001 acquisition of Litton Industries Inc. He previously served as Litton's president and chief operating officer and as a member of its board of directors.
Prior to joining Litton, Sugar was president and chief operating officer of TRW Aerospace and Information Systems. Earlier, he served as TRW’s chief financial officer, and also ran TRW's worldwide automotive electronics business. TRW Inc. was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2002.
In 1968, Sugar graduated summa cum laude in engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles, where he also received a master's degree and a doctorate in the same field. He was honored by UCLA as Engineering Alumnus of the Year, and has received among other honors the Marine Corps Foundation's Semper Fidelis Award, the Air Force Association’s John R. Alison Leadership to National Defense Award, and the Army Distaff Foundation’s Eisenhower Distinguished Citizen Award.
Sugar is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He currently serves as national fundraising chairman of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund. He is a past Chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association, and earlier was appointed by the President of the United States to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. He is a national trustee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, a director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, a trustee of the University of Southern California, and a director of Chevron Corporation.
