William H. Swanson

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William H. Swanson (born 1950) is the chairman and chief executive officer of Raytheon Company. Before becoming chairman in January 2004, he 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.

1 Corporate biography
2 Plagiarism
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Corporate biography

A native of California, Swanson graduated magna cum laude from California Polytechnic State University with a bachelors degree in industrial engineering. He attended a graduate degree program in business administration at Golden Gate University. 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 School of Engineering.

Swanson joined Raytheon in 1972 and has held a wide range of leadership positions, including manufacturing manager of the company’s Equipment Division, senior vice president and general manager of the Missile Systems Division, gen manager of Raytheon Electronic Systems, and chairman and chief executive officer of Raytheon Systems Company.

Sprint Nextel Corporation^[1], the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation Board of Directors^[2], the California Polytechnic State University President’s Cabinet^[3], and the Rose Kennedy Greenway board^[4]. Pepperdine University made him a member of their board of regents^[5] and awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

Swanson is also a member of the Secretary of the Air Force Advisory Board and is a trustee of the Association of the United States Army. He serves as a member of the National Defense Industrial Association, the Navy League, the Air Force Association, and the Board of Governors of the Aerospace Industries Association. He is a member of the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation board of advisors, an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a member of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.

[edit] Plagiarism

On April 24, 2006, in a statement^[6] released by Raytheon, Swanson admitted to plagiarism in claiming authorship for his booklet, "Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management," after being exposed by The New York Times. On May 2, 2006, Raytheon withdrew distribution of the book.^[7] 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."^[8] Further investigation by the Boston Herald revealed that Swanson had also copied some of "his" rules from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and columnist Dave Barry [1].

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."^[9]