CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Norman R. Augustine, who retired as CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp. in 1998, is scheduled to speak on the University of Illinois campus on Tuesday (April 2) at 4 p.m.
The event, to be held in the Beckman Institute auditorium and followed by a reception, is part of Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise’s “Research University in the World of the Future” series.
Augustine, who earned a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1957 from Princeton University, has advocated for greater investment in the U.S. education system since his retirement.
Eight years ago he led a commission studying U.S. competitiveness that issued “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” a report recommending improvements in K-12 math and science education, more investment in long-term basic research, strategies to attract high-tech students and scientists from around the world, and the creation of programs to create and sustain incentives for innovation and research investment.
“Education investment goes hand in hand with having a strong economy, and universities are the key to making the nation more competitive,” he said. “Part of the cost of higher education is that many high school students aren’t prepared when they get to our universities.”
With new technologies and a funding structure that depends less on state and federal funding, universities will be forced to change how they deliver high quality education to students, he said.
“The problem is, universities in this country and elsewhere have changed very little in the last 100 years,” Augustine said. “What they teach has changed, but it’s still being delivered in basically the same way. We also need to decide what it is we want our universities to have as their priorities.”
Augustine started his career as chief engineer at Douglas Aircraft from 1959-65, was an assistant director in the office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1965-70, and was assistant secretary, and then the undersecretary, of the U.S. Army from 1973-77.
In 1977 Augustine was named vice president of technical operations for Martin Marietta Corp., of which he became chairman and CEO. In 1995 he was named president of Lockheed Martin Corp.
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