Forbes just released its list of the world’s 100 Most Powerful Women. Chancellor Merkel is on top again, and rightly so. It’s impossible to quarrel with top ten CEOs like PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi, DuPont’s Ellen Kullman or Anne Lauvergeon who runs French nuclear giant Areva. Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama hover between spots 35-40, edging out Oprah who takes 41st place.
Forbes, I love your list, but did you know there are a handful of women in defense who have a lot more power than meets the eye? Here are a few:
Joanne Maguire, Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Space Systems, arguably the most successful builder of satellites in business today.
Linda Hudson, President of BAE Systems Land & Armaments Operating Group, makers of MRAPs and much more.
General Ann Dunwoody, the first woman four-star general, runs the U.S. Army’s massive Materiel Command.
Jean Chamberlin, Vice President and Program Manager for Boeing’s C-17 strategic airlift plane.
Linda Gooden, who logged over $11 billion in sales last year as Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Services, a blend of defense and non-defense work.
Michele Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, has more that 20 deputy assistant secretaries working for her in the Pentagon. If she moves up to Secretary of Defense later in the Obama years she’ll be headlining the Forbes list.
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