Who is Marillyn Hewson? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Marillyn Adams Hewson

Age: 70 Years, 70 Year Old Females

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: James Hewson

father: Warren Adams

mother: Mary Adams

children: David Hewson, Will Hewson

Born Country: United States

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U.S. State: Kansas

More Facts

education: University Of Alabama

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Childhood & Early Life

Born on December 27, 1953, in Junction City, Kansas, USA, Marillyn Hewson is the daughter of the late Warren Adams and Mary Adams. She lost her father at the age of nine and was subsequently brought up, alongside her four siblings, by her single mother. Mary Adams was a former member of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC).

According to Hewson, her mother’s resilience, hard work, and determination have taught her much about leadership.

Hewson studied at the University of Alabama, from where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in 1976 and Master of Arts degree in economics in 1979. She was also a student of the Columbia Business School and Harvard Business School executive development programs.

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Early Career

In her youth, Marillyn performed several odd jobs in the apartment building where her family resided. She also helped her mother in raising her siblings. After graduating from college, she was employed at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Career at Lockheed Martin

Marillyn Hewson began working at Lockheed Martin in 1983. One of the biggest companies in the aerospace, defence, security, and technologies industry, Lockheed Martin generated US$53.76 billion in revenues in 2018. Most of it came from military sales, which makes the company the largest defence contractor in the world.

Throughout the years she has been employed at Lockheed Martin, she has held a variety of posts, including president and chief operating officer, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin's Electronic Systems business area, president of Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, executive vice president of Global Sustainment for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, president and general manager of Kelly Aviation Center, L.P., and president of Lockheed Martin Logistics Services.

On November 9, 2012, she was chosen to be a member of the board of directors of the company. In January 2013, she assumed the position of the chief executive officer.

In January 2014, she became the chairwoman of Lockheed Martin. She is also part of the board of directors for Sandia National Laboratories since 2010 and DuPont since 2007.

Since she has been appointed at the helm of Lockheed Martin, the company has doubled its market capitalization.

In July 2015, she revealed that they were going to acquire Sikorsky Aircraft, the producers of Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. This purchase enabled the company to manufacture its own helicopters. They have also purchased Beontra AG, which supplies integrated planning and demand forecasting tools for airports.

Under her leadership, the company is more focused on making more military hardware. In May 2018, Saudi Arabia signed a multi-billion contract with Lockheed Martin and several other US companies during President Donald Trump’s visit to the country.

In November 2018, the company won one of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services contracts. In September 2019, the two organisations entered into a $4.6 billion contract to manufacture six Orion capsules or more for NASA's Artemis program.

Awards

The Fortune magazine has hailed Hewson as one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015. In 2018, she topped that list. In the same year, Forbes dubbed her the ninth most powerful woman in the world.

In 2017, she became an inductee into that year’s edition of the Wash100 for international market focus and F-35 leadership.

She ranked #35 on the Harvard Business Review’s "The Best-Performing CEOs in the World 2017" list.

In 2018, ‘Chief Executive’ magazine celebrated her as the “CEO of the Year”. A year later, she served in its selection committee.

Family & Personal Life

Marillyn met James Hewson while they were both students at the University of Alabama. He graduated with a degree in communications. They eventually got married and have two sons together, Will and David.

In 2018, the couple gifted their alma mater $15 million to help Culverhouse College of Business. This was the biggest gift anyone has ever made in the history of the school.

Marillyn Hewson Biography