Norman R. Augustine, Retired Chairman & CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation
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Norm Augustine is the retired Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin. Previously he served as Undersecretary of the Army, and Lecturer with the Rank of Professor at his alma mater, Princeton.
He has been presented the National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States and has five times received the Department of Defense's highest civilian decoration, the Distinguished Service Medal.
He is or has been a member of the Board of Directors of Lockheed Martin, Black & Decker, ConocoPhillips and Procter & Gamble. He was Chairman of the American Red Cross for nine years, Chairman of the National Academy of Engineering, President and Chairman of the Association of the United States Army, President of the Boy Scouts of America and Chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association. He is a Trustee Emeritus of Johns Hopkins, a Regent of the University System of Maryland, and a former Trustee of Princeton and MIT. He holds 23 honorary degrees.
The answer to the question is: No, Bob Gates cannot fix the “Pentagon procurement mess.” Bob Gates is an extraordinarily talented, dedicated and decent individual, but even he cannot do it alone. To begin with, the Pentagon procurement system is not even a system at all; rather, it is a collection of band-aids and patches placed one on top of the other, each to make certain that some problem that occurred somewhere in some program sometime in the past can never, ever occur again. It is overseen by a 535-member board of directors, each with their own interests, managed by… Read more
“How should President Obama proceed in dealing with Iran?” The answer is “carefully…very carefully.” While talking without preconditions is probably appropriate, perhaps even necessary, most likely at the Secretary of State level, it is unlikely that there is very much, short of an invasion, that Americans or anyone else can do to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. At least at this point, an invasion would seem to be a remarkably unattractive option…and it will be even less of an option once Iran does have a few nuclear weapons along with a relatively plausible delivery capability. So what… Read more
This is being written as I return from the United Arab Emirates. Here, as in many other places in this part of the world, it is believed that the keystone to a stable Middle East is Palestine. While the U.S. (and Europe and selected Arab states) can and should help, peace is likely to be elusive until Israel and the Palestinians both conclude that it will be worth the price. What price? Abandoned settlements, assurance of a right to exist, and more. Only when both sides determine that the compromises necessary to achieve such a peace are less onerous than… Read more
One of my favorite things about the holidays and vacations is the opportunity to read for enjoyment. During the rest of the year books tend to pile up on my bed stand until they get to the lampshade, at which time they go to my library for temporary custody until I (really) retire! I’ve finished Cynthia Cooper’s book, Extraordinary Circumstances, the autobiographical story of the whistleblower who blew up WorldCom. Actually, she didn’t blow it up…the management blew it up. But the book provides a compelling lesson in the importance of having “escape paths” for bad news, particularly in highly… Read more
Biography provided by participant
