Philip M. Condit, chair and chief executive officer of The Boeing Company, the world's largest aerospace company, will visit the campus Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 12 and 13, as a Gordon Grand Fellow.
On Monday, Condit will be the guest at a tea at 4 p.m. in the master's house of Silliman College, 71 Wall St. The event is free and open to the public.
At 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, he will deliver the Gordon Grand Lecture on the topic "Boeing's Global Strategy." This talk, which is also free and open to the public, will be held at the School of Management (SOM) in the General Motors Room of Horchow Hall, 55 Hillhouse Ave.
While on campus, Condit will also meet informally with students at Silliman College and with SOM students and faculty. In addition, he will attend SOM Professor Barry Nalebuff's "Competitive Strategy" class, during which students will make presentations on the "Boeing vs. Airbus" case.
Condit's career has spanned more than 30 years at Boeing, a leader in commercial aircraft, military aircraft and missiles, and space markets. The Seattle-based company employs more than 230,000 people and serves customers in 150 countries. It is the largest exporter in the United States, with revenues of approximately $46 billion in 1997.
Condit joined Boeing in 1965 as an aerodynamics engineer on the Supersonic Transport program. He has since had some 20 assignments with the company, including aerodynamics engineer on the Supersonic Transport program, lead engineer for the Boeing 747 high-speed configuration airplane, manager of new program planning, and vice president and general manager of the 757 division. In 1983, he became vice president of the Renton Division, which built 707, 727, 737 and 757 airplanes. A year later, he was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplane Company, and in 1986, he became executive vice president of Boeing Commercial Airplane Company. He served as executive vice president and general manager of the New Airplane Division before he was elected president and a member of the board of directors of The Boeing Company in 1992. He was named chief executive officer in 1996 and was elected chair of the company in 1997.
Condit is the author of several published papers on commercial aircraft technology and holds a patent, awarded in 1965, for the design of a flexible wing called the sailwing. He also led the team that launched the wide-body Boeing 777 airplane, and he pioneered management concepts that integrated design/build teams of customers, suppliers and employees to design and produce the 21st-century jet. The 777 "Working Together" team has received numerous aeronautical awards, including the prestigious Collier Award.
Condit has won numerous awards for engineering and management achievements, including the Japan Society's 1997 Kokusai Shimin Sho, or International Citizens Award, for global leadership in the private sector. He also was named Chief Executive Officer of the Year by Financial World in 1997, the same year he received the Ronald H. Brown Standards Leadership Award for advancing international standards.
An avid aviation enthusiast for all of his life, Condit has held his own pilot's license since the age of 18.