Brenda Marie Rivers
Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy has been chosen to receive the Society of Women Engineers’ 2018 Rodney D. Chipp Memorial Award in recognition of his initiatives to promote diversity in the workplace and empower female engineering professionals through mentoring.
SWE chose Kennedy based on testimonials from multiple industry representatives who vouched for his efforts to diversify program teams and create new strategies to advance the careers of women engineers, Raytheon said Friday.
Kennedy, a two-time Wash 100 recipient, has supported policies such as the inclusion of qualified women on all leadership succession plans since he took the helm in March 2014.
He launched a strategic plan in 2016 that offered details on anti-bias leadership training, revised acquisition and performance-rating processes, an internal communications program for workplace inclusivity called Diversity 2020 and benefits such as the first paid parental leave in the industry.
Raytheon noted it has continually promoted female engineers into fellowship roles over the past yeat and half of its engineering vice presidents are comprised of women.
SWE will present the award to Kennedy during the society’s annual conference in October.
