James Forrestal Industry Leadership Award

The James Forrestal Industry Leadership Award is named for James Forrestal, the last cabinet-level Secretary of the Navy and our nation’s first Secretary of Defense. It honors Forrestal for his leadership and outspoken advocacy for a robust and responsive defense industrial base during the early years of post-WWII demobilization. The award is bestowed annually on a senior, highly accomplished industry executive who best reflects Forrestal’s vision, leadership, and staunch support of a strong industrial base.

Award nominees must:

  • Be a U.S. citizen,
  • Have had strategic impact and leadership at the national level,
  • Be a leader in support of the military services, other security-related agencies, and warfighters,
  • Be an active supporter of the defense industrial base and its programs, and
  • Be a leader in defining and addressing issues of the industrial base and national security.

James Forrestal Industry Leadership Award Recipient:

2023 Winner

Daniel Jablonsky
President and Chief Executive Officer of Maxar Technologies

  • Previous Recipients:

  • 2022   |   Mr. Frederick W. Smith, Founder and Executive Chairman, FedEx Corporation
  • 2021   |   Eren Ozmen, Chairwoman, President & Owner, Sierra Nevada Corporation
  • 2020   |   Award Not Presented
  • 2019   |   Mitch Daniels, President, Purdue University
  • 2018   |   Arnold L. Punaro, CEO, The Punaro Group, LLC
  • 2017   |   Dr. Wanda M. Austin, Former President & CEO, The Aerospace Corporation
  • 2016   |   Marillyn Hewson, Chairman, CEO & President, Lockheed Martin Corporation
  • 2015   |   David L. Joyce, President & CEO, GE Aviation; and Senior VP, General Electric Company
  • 2014   |   Sean O’Keefe, Chairman & CEO, Airbus Group, Inc.
  • 2013   |   Wesley G. Bush, CEO & President, Northrop Grumman Corporation
  • 2012   |   Ralph D. Crosby, Jr., Former Chairman & CEO, EADS North America
  • 2011   |   Robert J. Stevens, Chairman & CEO, Lockheed Martin
  • 2010   |   James F. Albaugh, President & CEO, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems
  • 2009   |   Ronald D. Sugar, Chairman, CEO & President, Northrop Grumman Corporation
  • 2007   |   Clayton M. Jones, Chairman, President & CEO, Rockwell Collins
  • 2006   |   William H. Swanson, Chairman & CEO, Raytheon Company
  • 2005   |   George J. Pedersen, Chairman, CEO & President, ManTech International Corporation
  • 2004   |   J. Robert Beyster, Founder, Chairman & President, Science Applications Int’l Corporation *
  • 2003   |   Thomas W. Rabaut, President & CEO, United Defense LP *
  • 2002   |   Dr. Vance D. Coffman, Chairman & CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation *
  • 2001   |   Harry C. Stonecipher, President & CEO, The Boeing Company *
  • 2000   |   Philip A. Odeen, Executive Vice President, Washington Operations, TRW Inc. *
  • 1999   |   Kent Kresa, Chairman, President & CEO, Northrop Grumman Corporation *
  • 1998   |   Dennis J. Picard, Chairman, & CEO, Raytheon Company *
  • 1997   |   Jerry R. Junkins, Chairman, President & CEO, Texas Instruments (Posthumously) *
  • 1996   |   John McLuckey, President, Space Systems, Information, Space & Defense Systems, Boeing *
  • 1995   |   Norman R. Augustine, President & CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation *
  • 1994   |   Daniel Tellep, Chairman of the Board & CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation *
  • 1993   |   Bernard L. Schwartz, Chairman & CEO, Loral Corporation *
  • 1992   |   William A. Anders, Chairman & CEO, General Dynamics Corporation *

* In 2005, the Defense Industry Leadership Award was renamed the James Forrestal Leadership Award.


Awards

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