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Dr. Coffman was elected to his current position in April 1998 having served as CEO and Vice Chairman since August 1997. He has served in a series of elected corporate leadership positions including President and Chief Operating Officer of Lockheed Martin's Space & Strategic Missile Sector. Prior to the merger of Lockheed and Martin Marietta Corporations in 1995, he served as Executive Vice President of Lockheed Corporation. Earlier, he was President of the Space Systems Division of Lockheed Missiles & Space Company and a Vice President of the corporation.
In 1967, Dr. Coffman joined Lockheed's Space Systems Division as a guidance and control systems analyst. After leading the development of several major space programs and large ground data processing systems, he was appointed a vice president in 1985, division vice president and assistant general manager in 1987, and President of the Space Systems Division in 1988. While in this position, he was responsible for the Hubble Space Telescope; the MILSTAR satellite communications program; the Follow-on Early Warning system (now called Space Based Infrared System); and the corporation's work on Iridium.
In 2002, Dr. Coffman was named Chairman of the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, and was selected to be Chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association for the year 2003. He serves on the board of Directors of 3M Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and the United Negro College Fund. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and the Security Affairs Support Association. In 1989, he received Iowa State University's Professional Progress in Engineering Award, and in 1999 the Distinguished Achievement Citation from Iowa State. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Pepperdine University's George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management. He was elected a Fellow in both the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and in the American Astronautical Society.
Born in Kinross, Iowa, on April 3, 1944, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University and Masters and Doctoral degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University. He and his wife Arlene have two grown daughters.
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