Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Hewson.. Most Powerful Woman in World


Fri 08 Mar 2019 | 03:58 PM
Yassmine Elsayed

By: Yassmine ElSayed

 

CAIRO, Mar. 8 (SEE) - March 8 is the day which turned from a painful memory to an international celebration. Creativity and pain are correlated partners for the woman. In spite of challenges, women prove their success everywhere. Therefore, SEE celebrates the International Woman's Day.

 

Among those demonstrated exceptional power and leadership is Marillyn Hewson.. She is a prime example of working hard to climb up the career ladder; with over 35 years’ experience in various managerial roles at Lockheed, she was appointed as their CEO in 2015.

According to Fortune magazine, she is the most powerful woman in the world right now. She has dubbed the Lockheed Martin CEO and chairman. The magazine credited Hewson with having placed the aerospace and defense company in "the sweet spot to cater to the modern military's needs" and with "leading the charge to develop hypersonic weapons."

And Hewson is compensated in the millions for her efforts. The CEO's total net worth isn't immediately clear, but according to the Washington Business Journal, her total compensation in 2017 was $22.87 million. That's an 11.15% increase from her overall compensation in 2016, which was reported at $20.57 million.

Beside her focus on improvement of the technology industry, she recently donated $5 million (£3.8 million) to build a cybersecurity lab at the University of Alabama, so other young women can have the opportunity to gain C-Level positions, too.

According to business insider , Hewson was born and raised in Junction City, Kansas. When Hewson was just nine years old, her father, Warren Adams, died of a heart attack.

Her mother Mary was left to care for five kids. Hewson wrote in Politico that her mother's resilience "taught me everything I needed to know about leadership."

Hewson wrote that she grew up helping to care for her younger siblings, doing odd jobs in their apartment building, and grocery shopping for their mom.

"Taking on those responsibilities made us stronger, wiser and more self-reliant," she wrote.

She attended the University of Alabama, where she received a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in economics.

Hewson credited her time at the university with prepping her for "the challenges and opportunities I've encountered throughout my career — from the day I joined the company as an industrial engineer to my current role as CEO."

After college, Hewson began working at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hewson joined Lockheed Martin in 1983, when she began working as a senior industrial engineer.

Over the course of her career, Hewson worked in four of Lockheed Martin's five business segments: information systems and global solutions, missiles and fire controls, mission systems and trainings, aeronautics, and space systems.