William H. Swanson
Encyclopedia
William H. Swanson is the chairman
and chief executive officer
of Raytheon Company
.
. He attended Cal Poly with the assistance of a golf scholarship. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate from Pepperdine University and currently serves on the Board of Regents of Pepperdine. He was selected as the Outstanding Industrial Engineering Graduate in 1972, and in 1991 was recognized as an Honored Alumnus by California Polytechnic State University College of Engineering. He attended a graduate degree program in business administration at Golden Gate University
.
Before becoming chairman of Raytheon in January 2004, Swanson was CEO and president
of the company. Prior to that he was president of the company, responsible for Raytheon’s government and defense operations, including the four Strategic Business Areas of Missile Defense; Precision Engagement; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR); and Homeland Security. Before that, he was a Raytheon executive vice president and president of Electronic Systems.
As a protege of Chairman and CEO Dennis Picard and a long-time Raytheon insider, he was the expected candidate to succeed the retiring chairman in the late 90's. However, Daniel Burnham, an outsider, was elected to succeed Dennis Picard as Chairman and CEO. Financial reporting controversies and lagging company performance caused Burnham to retire early from the company. Swanson was then elevated to his current position.
".
On April 24, 2006, in a statement released by Raytheon, Swanson admitted to plagiarism
in claiming authorship for his booklet, "Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management," after being exposed by an article in The New York Times
. On May 2, 2006, Raytheon withdrew distribution of the book. On May 3, 2006, Raytheon punished Swanson by reducing his compensation by approximately $1 million for publishing what was "later found to have been taken from a 1944 engineering classic, The Unwritten Laws of Engineering, by W. J. King." Further investigation by the Boston Herald revealed that Swanson had also copied some of the rules from former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
and columnist Dave Barry
.
The Boston Globe
, the major newspaper in Raytheon's home town, reported "the move was largely symbolic given Swanson's robust $7 million pay package in 2005."
Chairman of the Board
The Chairman of the Board is a seat of office in an organization, especially of corporations.Chairman of the Board may also refer to:*Chairman of the Board , a 1998 film*Chairmen of the Board , a 1970s American soul music group...
and chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Raytheon Company
Raytheon
Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...
.
Education
A native of California, Swanson graduated magna cum laude from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a bachelors degree in industrial engineeringIndustrial engineering
Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering dealing with the optimization of complex processes or systems. It is concerned with the development, improvement, implementation and evaluation of integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy, materials, analysis...
. He attended Cal Poly with the assistance of a golf scholarship. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate from Pepperdine University and currently serves on the Board of Regents of Pepperdine. He was selected as the Outstanding Industrial Engineering Graduate in 1972, and in 1991 was recognized as an Honored Alumnus by California Polytechnic State University College of Engineering. He attended a graduate degree program in business administration at Golden Gate University
Golden Gate University
Golden Gate University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in the South of Market district, immediately south of the Financial District of downtown San Francisco, California...
.
Career at Raytheon
Swanson joined Raytheon in 1972 and has held a wide range of leadership positions, including manufacturing manager of the company’s Equipment Division, general manager of the Missile Systems Division's Andover Plant, senior vice president and general manager of the Missile Systems Division, general manager of Raytheon Electronic Systems, and president, chairman and chief executive officer of Raytheon Systems Company.Before becoming chairman of Raytheon in January 2004, Swanson was CEO and president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the company. Prior to that he was president of the company, responsible for Raytheon’s government and defense operations, including the four Strategic Business Areas of Missile Defense; Precision Engagement; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR); and Homeland Security. Before that, he was a Raytheon executive vice president and president of Electronic Systems.
As a protege of Chairman and CEO Dennis Picard and a long-time Raytheon insider, he was the expected candidate to succeed the retiring chairman in the late 90's. However, Daniel Burnham, an outsider, was elected to succeed Dennis Picard as Chairman and CEO. Financial reporting controversies and lagging company performance caused Burnham to retire early from the company. Swanson was then elevated to his current position.
Honors and associations
- Member of the board of directorsBoard of directorsA board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of Sprint Nextel Corporation. - Member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation board of directors, the California Polytechnic State University President’s Cabinet, and the Rose Kennedy GreenwayRose Kennedy GreenwayThe Rose Kennedy Greenway is a roughly 1.5-mile-long long series of parks and public spaces being created in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA. It is the final part of the Big Dig that put Interstate 93 underground and removed the elevated freeway that served as the main highway through downtown...
board. - Appointed to the Pepperdine UniversityPepperdine UniversityPepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
board of regentsBoard of RegentsIn the United States, a board often governs public institutions of higher education, which include both state universities and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual colleges and universities, or both. In general they operate as...
and awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree and the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. - Member of the Secretary of the Air Force advisory board.
- Trustee of the Association of the United States ArmyAssociation of the United States ArmyThe Association of the United States Army is a private, non-profit organization that acts primarily as an advocacy group for the United States Army. Founded in 1950, it has 125 chapters worldwide. Membership is open to everyone, not just Army personnel, nor is membership mandatory for soldiers,...
. - Member of the National Defense Industrial AssociationNational Defense Industrial AssociationThe National Defense Industrial Association is an association for the United States government and the defense industry. Based in Arlington, Virginia, NDIA was established in 1919 as a result of the inability of the defense industry to scale up the war effort during World War I...
. - Member of the Navy League.
- Member of the Air Force AssociationAir Force AssociationThe Air Force Association is an independent, 501 non-profit, civilian education organization, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia...
. - Member of the Board of Governors of the Aerospace Industries Association.
- Member of the CIACentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
Officers Memorial Foundation board of advisors. - Associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and AstronauticsAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and AstronauticsThe American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society , founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society , and the Institute...
. - Member of the US president’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.
- Vice chairman of the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF).
- Co-chair of BHEF's Securing America's Leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Initiative.
- Honorary chair of MATHCOUNTS for 2009 through 2011.
- Honorary chair of 2011 Engineers Week.
Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management and plagiarism
Swanson released a short work called Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management, thirty three sound-bite rules, including the comparatively well known "Waiter RuleWaiter Rule
The Waiter Rule refers to a common belief that ones true character can be gleaned from how one treats staff or service workers, such as a "waiter". The rule was one of William H Swanson's 33 Unwritten Rules of Management, copied from Dave Barry's version "If someone is nice to you but rude to the...
".
On April 24, 2006, in a statement released by Raytheon, Swanson admitted to plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
in claiming authorship for his booklet, "Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management," after being exposed by an article in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. On May 2, 2006, Raytheon withdrew distribution of the book. On May 3, 2006, Raytheon punished Swanson by reducing his compensation by approximately $1 million for publishing what was "later found to have been taken from a 1944 engineering classic, The Unwritten Laws of Engineering, by W. J. King." Further investigation by the Boston Herald revealed that Swanson had also copied some of the rules from former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
and columnist Dave Barry
Dave Barry
David "Dave" Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.-Biography:Barry was born in Armonk, New York,...
.
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, the major newspaper in Raytheon's home town, reported "the move was largely symbolic given Swanson's robust $7 million pay package in 2005."
External links
- Raytheon's biography of William H. Swanson (in PDF formatPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
).