Former Northrop Grumman CEO joins Apple board
Apple Inc. on Wednesday said it had appointed former Northrop Grumman Corp. Chief Executive Ronald D. Sugar to its board.
Sugar, 62, who headed the Century City aerospace giant from 2003 until his retirement this year, will serve as chairman of Apple’s audit and finance committee. Before taking over at Northrop, he was an executive with Southland defense contractors TRW Inc. and Litton Industries Inc.
In his tenure as Northrop’s chief executive, Sugar helped acquire nearly two dozen companies with interests in virtually every aspect of the U.S. military, including building spy satellites and nuclear submarines, managing websites and protecting computer systems against hackers.
Sugar grew up in South Los Angeles and graduated with a doctorate in engineering from UCLA.
“Ron is an engineer at heart, who then became a very successful business leader,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. “In addition to having been the CEO of a high-tech Fortune 100 company, Ron has a PhD in engineering and has been involved in the development of some very sophisticated technology.”
Sugar is the latest high-profile leader to join Cupertino-based Apple’s seven-member board, which includes former Vice President Al Gore and former Intuit Inc. CEO William V. Campbell.
