Harrington Named Vice President, General Manager of Astronautics

McDonnell Douglas Corp. on Thursday named Louis F. Harrington as vice president and general manager of McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. in Huntington Beach.

Harrington succeeds Gerald A. Johnston, who was promoted Tuesday to president of the St. Louis-based parent company.

Harrington, 53, has been senior vice president of Douglas Aircraft Co. in Long Beach. He began his career as an engineer with the company 32 years ago.

In 1964, Harrington was named a technical director on the AWACS military aircraft program. He was promoted to director of systems development for AWACS in 1969. In 1979, he was named deputy director of avionics and advanced design at Douglas Aircraft. He was promoted to vice president of program management in 1982 and to senior vice president in 1987.

Harrington holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from USC.

A resident of Orange, Harrington and his wife, Sally, have three grown children.

The Astronautics unit employs 9,000 people in Huntington Beach.