Lockheed Martin's board of directors approved the appointment of Richard "Rick" Edwards as executive vice president, Lockheed Martin International and Frank St. John as executive vice president of the corporation's Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) business area. Both serve as corporate officers and the appointments are effective immediately.
Edwards, 61, joined Lockheed Martin nearly 35 years ago and for the past five years has served as executive vice president of MFC. Under his leadership, MFC secured several significant long-term strategic contract wins and grew international sales by 12 percent to 37 percent of MFC's 2016 sales. In 2017, Edwards was also appointed to lead the corporation's growing business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he will retain that responsibility. Under his leadership of Lockheed Martin International, he will focus on developing and executing strategies to grow the corporation's international business by strengthening customer relationships and industry partnerships in the 70 countries where we do business.
"Rick is an accomplished leader and strong customer advocate who has conducted business all over the world," said Marillyn A. Hewson, Lockheed Martin Chairman, President and CEO. "His extensive knowledge of our international business operations and his proven business leadership will position us to increase international growth."
St. John, 51, joined Lockheed Martin more than 30 years ago and has held a number of leadership positions of increasing responsibility. Most recently he was executive vice president and deputy, MFC programs, where he was responsible for overseeing all MFC lines of business and program performance to ensure the business area met or exceeded customer and shareholder expectations. Previously he was vice president of Tactical Missiles/Combat Maneuver Systems and head of the MFC Orlando Operations. St. John began his career as a Lockheed Martin engineering intern and has held a number of progressively responsible leadership roles in Engineering and Program Management on programs such as Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM), Joint Common Missile (JCM) and Longbow Missile and Fire Control Radar. St. John holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Central Florida.
"Frank is a seasoned leader with a deep understanding of the MFC business and strong customer relationships," continued Hewson. "With his proven track record, I'm confident that we will continue to deliver on the strong record of success of the MFC business area."
"Rick and Frank's appointments reflect the depth of our talent at Lockheed Martin and our robust succession planning process," said Hewson. "I'm confident that their leadership, deep business knowledge and technical expertise will position Lockheed Martin for continued success."