Marillyn Hewson

Marillyn Adams Hewson (born December 27, 1953) is an American businesswoman who served as the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor, from January 2013 to June 2020. She was the first woman to lead the company in its history. During her tenure as CEO, Lockheed Martin's stock value increased more than 300 percent, and she oversaw major acquisitions including the purchase of Sikorsky Aircraft.

In 2018, Fortune named Hewson the most powerful woman in the business world, and Forbes ranked her as the ninth most powerful woman in the world. She was named to Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2019 and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2025.

Early life and education

Marillyn Adams was born on December 27, 1953, in Junction City, Kansas, to Warren Adams and Mary Adams. Her father died when she was nine years old, leaving her mother, a former member of the Women's Army Corps (WAC), to raise five children—then aged 5 to 15—as a single parent.

The family relocated to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where Hewson grew up. As a young person, she worked several odd jobs in the apartment building where her family lived and helped her mother raise her younger siblings. Hewson has credited her mother's resilience, hard work, and determination as formative influences on her leadership style.

Hewson graduated from Tuscaloosa County High School and attended the University of Alabama, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in 1976 and her Master of Arts degree in economics in 1979. She worked full-time while completing both degrees to pay her way through school. During her time at Alabama, she was president of the Omicron Delta Epsilon economics honor society and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society. As a graduate student, she served as an economics instructor and research assistant.

She later completed executive development programs at Columbia Business School and Harvard Business School.

Career

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Before joining the defense industry, Hewson worked for four years as an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, D.C.

Lockheed Martin

Hewson joined the Lockheed Corporation in 1983, beginning as an industrial engineer. Over nearly four decades, she progressed through a series of leadership positions of increasing responsibility:

• President and General Manager of Kelly Aviation Center, L.P.
• President of Lockheed Martin Logistics Services
• Executive Vice President of Global Sustainment for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
• President of Lockheed Martin Systems Integration
• Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin's Electronic Systems business area
• President and Chief Operating Officer

On November 9, 2012, she was elected to Lockheed Martin's board of directors. In January 2013, she became CEO, making her the first woman to hold the position in the company's history.

Major initiatives as CEO

During her tenure as CEO, Hewson oversaw several significant developments:

Sikorsky Aircraft Acquisition: In July 2015, Hewson announced Lockheed Martin's purchase of Sikorsky Aircraft, the manufacturer of Black Hawk helicopters, from United Technologies Corporation for $9 billion. The acquisition gave Lockheed its own helicopter manufacturing capability for the first time.

F-35 Program Management: Hewson led the company through critical phases of the F-35 Lightning II program, the single largest military weapons program in history with a $400 billion price tag. Under her leadership, unit costs for the aircraft decreased significantly through increased production efficiency and volume purchasing.

Stock Performance: During her seven-year tenure as CEO, Lockheed Martin's stock value increased more than 300 percent, making it one of the best-performing defense stocks of the period.

On March 16, 2020, Lockheed announced that Hewson would transition to become executive chairman of the board, with James Taiclet named as her successor as CEO effective June 15, 2020. Hewson retired as executive chairman and board member in March 2021.

Post-Lockheed career

Following her retirement from Lockheed Martin, Hewson has continued to serve on several corporate boards:

• Lead Director at Johnson & Johnson (since 2024)
• Board of Directors at Chevron Corporation
• Board of Directors at the USO
• Member of the Trilateral Commission

Controversies

F-35 cost overruns

The F-35 Lightning II program, while a major revenue driver for Lockheed Martin, became a source of significant controversy during Hewson's tenure. The jet was over budget and seven years behind schedule, plagued by technical issues stemming from the military's desire to have a single aircraft platform capable of multiple mission profiles.

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Mathias Winter, head of the military's joint program office, publicly stated that he believed Lockheed Martin was not negotiating entirely in good faith on F-35 contracts and was being unreasonably recalcitrant about discussing further reductions in unit costs. Officials also expressed frustration with ongoing problems with the aircraft's computer systems, cloud-based network, and sharing of intellectual property information.

Trump administration confrontation

In December 2016, then-President-elect Donald Trump publicly criticized Lockheed Martin over the F-35 program's costs, tweeting: "The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th."

The criticism triggered a meeting between Hewson and Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Following the meeting, Hewson stated she had a "very good conversation" with Trump, adding: "I've heard his message loud and clear about reducing the cost of the F-35. I gave him my personal commitment to drive the cost down aggressively."

Hewson later characterized Trump's criticism as "fair" regarding the F-35's price tag, though she stopped short of confirming whether his demands actually influenced cost reductions. Defense analysts noted that Lockheed had already planned cost reductions before Trump's involvement, with one analyst stating Trump appeared to be "taking credit for work that's already been done."

"Invisible plane" incident

In a 2018 White House meeting, President Trump appeared to believe the F-35 was literally invisible, stating: "You can't see it. And I say, 'Is this an invisible plane?' They said, 'Well, sir, it's stealth'... It's the best in the world, and we make it right here." When Trump asked Hewson directly if the F-35 was "absolutely" invisible, she agreed with his characterization without correction.

Critics noted that defense contractors had become "increasingly willing to try and manipulate Trump's almost juvenile fascination and understanding of weapon systems as a negotiating tool." The incident, during which Trump repeatedly referred to Hewson as "Marillyn Lockheed," drew criticism from defense analysts who suggested the company was prioritizing short-term diplomatic gains over accurate public understanding of the technology.

Military-industrial complex criticism

Defense spending critics have used Lockheed Martin under Hewson's leadership as an example of the military-industrial complex's influence on government policy. Bill Hartung, author of a book about Lockheed, described the Trump White House's actions and staffing as the "military-industrial complex personified," invoking President Dwight D. Eisenhower's famous warning against undue contractor influence.

Critics have argued that job creation claims by defense contractors are often overstated, contending that "whenever Marillyn Hewson or any other CEO in the military-industrial complex claims that spending more taxpayer dollars on defense contractors will create jobs... ever more dollars invested means ever fewer Americans employed."

Personal life

Hewson married James R. Hewson, whom she met while both were students at the University of Alabama. The couple has two sons, David and Will, and a daughter-in-law, Alison. As of 2020, the family lived in McLean, Virginia.

Philanthropy

In 2018, Hewson and her husband made the largest single financial contribution in the University of Alabama's history at that time—$15 million—to support the construction of a new 108,000-square-foot building for the Culverhouse College of Business. The building was named Hewson Hall in their honor. The couple had previously donated $5 million in 2017 to support innovation and education in data analytics at the university.

Awards and recognition

• 2025 – Elected to the National Academy of Engineering
• 2019 – Named to Time's 100 Most Influential People
• 2018 – Fortune Most Powerful Woman in Business (No. 1)
• 2018 – Forbes Most Powerful Women in the World (No. 9)
• 2018 – Chief Executive magazine CEO of the Year
• 2018 – Edison Achievement Award
• Inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame
• Inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor

See also

• Lockheed Martin
• F-35 Lightning II
• Defense industry
• Women in business

External links

• Marillyn Hewson on LinkedIn
• Lockheed Martin official website