Ralph D. Heath

President, Lockheed Martin (retired)

Education

• BS 1970, Electrical Engineering, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• MBA 1975, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Ralph D. Heath is a recognized leader in the aerospace and defense industry, having concluded a nearly 40-year career at Lockheed Martin. He held a wide range of positions in design, development, production, and sustainment. He was president of Lockheed’s Aeronautics Company for seven years, a $15 billion business with 26,000 employees spread across nine locations. Products included the F-16, F-22, and F-35 fighters, the C-130 and C-5 transports, and both manned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

Heath was a leader in international business, personally engaging in more than 30 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, South America, and the Pacific Rim. He led the company’s transition into process-based management and was an agent of change throughout his career.

Heath is a member of boards of the Textron Corporation and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. He also serves on the advisory boards of the University of Tennessee’s Tickle College of Engineering and Haslam College of Business.

Heath is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow and was the recipient of the 2005 Reed Aerospace Award. He was named the National Management Association Executive of the Year in 2007.

An Army veteran, Heath served nearly four years on active duty and was qualified as an airborne ranger. He holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and an MBA from the University of Tennessee, and an FAA commercial pilot’s license.