Rockville, Md., USA - October 26, 2009, Rockville, Md., USA - BAE Systems announces the appointment of Linda Hudson as chief operating officer, BAE Systems plc, and president and ceo of BAE Systems, Inc.
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Mr. Hudson began her career at the Harris Corporation in Melbourne, Florida as a Research and Development Engineer, specialising in satellite and communication systems. During her tenure at Ford Aerospace Mr. Hudson held various positions including Reliability Program Manager and Quality Assurance Manager culminating with the position of Air Defense Systems Program Manager. In 1985 Mr. Hudson joined Martin Marietta Corporation as Program Director Electro-Optical Systems which involved managing a $500 million-plus program for two international air defense systems for the Canadian and Swiss governments.
Mr. Hudson served as President, General Dynamics Ordnance Systems from 1992 through to July 1997. She was the chief operating officer of this wholly owned subsidiary managing a broad range of products and operating government-owned manufacturing facilities. In August 1997 until May 1999 Mr. Hudson was the Vice President, Business Development at General Dynamics and was responsible for developing corporate strategies. Mr. Hudson then served for seven years as Corporate Vice President and President, Armament and Technical Products at General Dynamics. During this time she led a $1 billion-plus operating company within a $22 billion corporation and had responsibility for a broad product portfolio with eight locations in seven states.
Mr. Hudson assumed the leadership of BAE Systems Land & Armaments Operating Group in January 2007. Shortly after joining BAE Systems, she led the acquisition of Armor Holdings Inc. which effectively doubled the size of the group's land systems operations. Mr. Hudson serves on the USO Worldwide Board of Governors, the Association of the United States Army Council of Trustees and engineering advisory boards for engineering programmes at the University of Maryland and the University of Florida. She is a member of the North Carolina and DC chapters of the International Women's Forum and she is a member of C200, the premier global organization of women business leaders. ■