William H. Swanson

Chairman and CEO, Raytheon Company

B.S. Industrial Engineering (1972)

After graduation in 1972 joined Raytheon in Santa Barbara as its highest-paid starting engineer.
Career progressed rapidly by being named the company’s youngest vice president in 1987; senior vice president in 1990, overseeing Raytheon’s largest business; and chairman of Raytheon Company in 2004.
Career at Raytheon has spanned over 42 years.
Received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pepperdine University in 2002 and an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Cal Poly in 2005.
In 2019, Swanson was recognized with the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the highest honorary award the Secretary of the Navy can confer on a Department of the Navy civilian employee.
Swanson has also received the Navy League Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Award, the NDIA James Forrestal Industry Leadership Award, the John W. Dixon Award from AUSA, a Diversity Best Practices CEO Diversity Leadership Award, the Institute of Industrial Engineers’ Captains of Industry Award, the Six Sigma Premier Leader Award from the International Society of Six Sigma Professionals, a Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship, and the Kennedy Greenway Vision Award.

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