Frank Lynch Retires From Northrop

Frank W. Lynch, 66, has retired from an active management position at Northrop Corp. but will continue to serve as vice chairman of the company’s board. The retirement was effective Friday.

Lynch had been active as a member of an executive committee that also included Northrop’s Chairman and Chief ExecutiveThomas V. Jones--and Kent Kresa, president and chief operating officer. Lynch, who will be 67 in November, will no longer be involved in daily management activities.

The retirement ends a career that began at Northrop when Lynch worked as a research engineer in 1950. Lynch was Northrop’s president and chief operating officer from 1982 to 1987. He was named vice chairman in February, 1987.

As president, Lynch was among six Northrop executives who approved a consulting deal that resulted in payments to the powerful Korean political broker Park Chong Kyu in 1984, according to internal documents. Northrop has said it did not know it was dealing with Park and has insisted that the deals were legitimate ventures designed to help sell F-20 jet fighters.

Lynch’s retirement is not related to an ongoing federal investigation into the deals with Park, the company said.