Norman R. Augustine, retired president and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation and author of Augustine’s Laws and Augustine’s Travels, will present a lecture at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 7 in the Baioni Conference Center located in Broom Hall on the campus of Delta State University.
Augustine’s discussion will address the decrease in competitiveness our nation is experiencing in our economy and educational institutions particularly in the areas of math and science. He will explain the critical role our next generation plays in our nation’s future. Leaders working with youth in our communities and schools today have the unique task of encouraging this next generation to step up to the challenges that lie ahead. As a chair of the original Gather Storm Committee, Augustine offers insight to better prepare our youth for such a challenge.
Joining the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1958, Augustine then served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as an assistant director of Defense Research and Engineering. He joined the LTV Missiles and Space Company in 1970. In 1973 he returned to government as assistant secretary and then under-secretary of the Army. He joined Martin Marietta in 1977. He became its chairman and CEO in 1988 and 1987, respectively, and then served as president of the Lockheed Martin Corporation upon its formation. He was subsequently CEO and chairman before his retirement in August 1997, after which he spent two years on the faculty of the Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science.
The National Medal of Technology was presented to Augustine in 1997 for his role in the development of technologies such as space vehicles, “smart” weapons, information systems and advanced aircraft systems. In January 2006, the National Academy of Sciences awarded him the prestigious Public Welfare Medal. The
Defense Department has bestowed on him its highest civilian decoration, the Distinguished Service Medal, five times. He has received meritorious service awards from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army, Air Force, NASA, Treasury Department and Central Intelligence Agency.
Augustine was chairman and principal officer of the American Red Cross for nine years, president and chairman of the Association of the United States Army, chairman of the council for the National Academy of Engineering, the Aerospace Industries Association and the Defense Science Board. He is a former president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Boy Scouts of America. Augustine is a regent of the University System of Maryland, trustee emeritus of Johns Hopkins and a former member of the board of trustees of Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of the advisory board to the Department of Homeland Security and he was a member of the Hart/Rudman Commission on National Security. He served for 16 years on the President’s council of advisors on Science and Technology. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Sciences and the Council on Foreign Affairs and he is a fellow of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Explorers Club.
Augustine graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering. He holds 24 honorary degrees; Augustine received the degree of Doctor of Business Administration from Drexel University in 2006. He has traveled in over 100 countries and stood on
both the North and South Poles.
