Until March of this year, Marillyn Hewson had been the Executive Chairman of the global aerospace and defense company, Lockheed Martin Corporation, an organization she joined more than 35 years ago. Thanks to her incredible career and various leadership positions held across the company, she has been named as one of the most influential and powerful women in the world by Time, Fortune, and Forbes.
When she was first interviewed at the company, one could say she felt at home, as she grew up in Kansas with a father who worked at Fort Riley army base and a mother who was an army nurse during World War II.
But beyond that, her early years, and especially her mother’s determination and hard work, taught her about leadership. After the loss of her father at the age of 9, she witnessed her mother’s strength in raising five children through difficult times.
“That period taught me everything I needed to know about leadership and reflected the unwavering determination of a generation of women who, like her, stood tall in the face of extraordinary adversity,” she later explained.
Hewson then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and a Master of Arts degree in economics from The University of Alabama and was also educated at the Columbia Business School and Harvard Business School executive development programs.
In 1983, she joined Lockheed as an industrial engineer and climbed her way up, holding different leadership roles, including Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer from 2013 to 2020. She also served as a Director from 2012 through 2021.
“The mission we are about is something that truly energizes me. I feel that at Lockheed Martin we have the opportunity to make a difference... supporting men and women fighting for our peace and freedom,” she said.
Under her tenure, she led the company through a period of financial growth and performance, with the company’s stock surging more than 300%. And now, although she stepped down as executive chairman in March 2021, she continues as a strategic advisor to the CEO, and maintains several other endorsements outside the company, including as a member of Chevron's Board of Directors, one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies.