Dr. Ronald D. Sugar is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Northrop Grumman Corporation, one of the world’s leading defense and technology companies.

Over the past decade, Northrop Grumman has undergone a strategic transformation through a series of successful mergers and acquisitions.  Once highly specialized in military aircraft such as the B-2 bomber, the company today provides innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.  Headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., Northrop Grumman employs 120,000 people in all 50 states and 25 countries.

Sugar joined the company following its 2001 acquisition of Litton Industries Inc., a diversified defense and technology company.  He previously served as Litton's president and chief operating officer and as a member of its board of directors.

Prior to joining Litton, Sugar was president and chief operating officer of TRW Aerospace and Information Systems.  Earlier, he ran TRW's worldwide automotive electronics business and also served as TRW's chief financial officer.  TRW Inc. was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2002.

In 1968, Sugar graduated summa cum laude in engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles, where he also received a master's degree and a doctorate in the same field.  He subsequently completed executive education programs at Stanford University, the Wharton School, and Harvard University.  He was honored by UCLA as Engineering Alumnus of the Year, and has received among other honors the Marine Corps Foundation's Semper Fidelis Award, the Air Force Association’s John R. Alison Leadership to National Defense Award, the Army Distaff Foundation’s Eisenhower Distinguished Citizen Award, Southern California Aeronautic Association’s Howard Hughes Memorial Award, and USC’s Daniel J. Epstein Engineering Management Award.

Sugar is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.  He currently serves as national fundraising chairman of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund.  He earlier was appointed by the President of the United States to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.  He also is a national trustee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, a director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, a trustee of the University of Southern California, and a member of the board of directors of Chevron Corporation.