Twenty Years at the Top: Black Engineers of the Year

Chapter 11 Art Johnson 1997 Black Engineer of the Year THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM THE 1997 BLACK ENGINEER OF THE YEAR AWARDS CEREMONY SPEECHES HONORING ART JOHNSON. THE THEME OF THE CONFERENCE THAT YEAR WAS “THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD.” The Old Storyteller: So, I have but one last story to share with you. Afterwards, it will be in your hands. To live life is to learn and lead by example. Life’s true champion is the one who, when growing up, chooses the right leaders to follow and when out front, chooses to lead the followers right. Let us look at one who has hurdled some staggering odds by virtually ignoring their existence and fixing his gaze on his goals. Let me show you what it takes to become the Black Engineer of the Year.

Norman Augustine, vice chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation: Since the end of the Cold War, mega-mergers within the defense industry have made executive jobs hard to hold onto. Art Johnson, a group vice president with Lockheed Martin Federal Systems, is one notable exception. Art, who was head of the former IBM Federal Systems Division and a group vice president, stayed at the top when the division was sold to Loral. Another merger swept the group into Lockheed Martin, with Johnson still at the helm.

And a recent promotion made him a Lockheed Martin corporate vice president, as well as division president. All along, he has proved to be one of the key players in defense communications.

Art leads a division with nearly 8,000 workers. The company sold over $2-billion worth of goods and services last fiscal year, more than a quarter of which came from foreign sales. While the division was part of IBM during Desert Storm, it provided the decisive communications that worked remarkably well amid the difficult and hostile terrains of the Middle East. The technical elements responded quickly with practical solutions that contributed to the many successes of the allied forces.

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