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Linda Hudson
Linda Hudson is the President & CEO of BAE Systems, Inc. She leads over 40,000 people across more than 130 sites in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Israel, Germany, Mexico and South Africa. BAE Systems, Inc. had 2010 revenues of $17.9 billion and is a U.S.-based, wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems plc, headquartered in London.
Concurrently, Hudson is an executive director of the BAE Systems plc Board and a member of the Executive Committee. She is also an executive director on the
BAE Systems, Inc. Board.
Previously, Hudson was president of BAE Systems' Land & Armaments operating group, a role she began in January 2007. Land & Armaments is the world's largest military vehicle and equipment business, with operations around the world.
Prior to joining BAE Systems, she served for seven years as an officer and vice president of the General Dynamics Corporation, and was president of General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products in Charlotte, N.C.
Hudson has held a variety of senior management positions in engineering, production operations, program management and business development during a period of significant consolidation in the defense industry. Beginning her career with the Harris Corporation and Ford Aerospace, she then led organizations at Martin Marietta through the Lockheed Martin merger and a subsequent divestiture to General Dynamics.
A graduate of the University of Florida, Hudson received her bachelor's degree with honors in Systems Engineering. She remains active in the alumni and athletic associations and serves on advisory boards for the College of Engineering. Recently honored as a Distinguished Alumnus, she is a member of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Hall of Fame. In 2010 she received an honorary doctorate degree in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Selected by the USO to receive its 2011 Woman of the Year Distinguished Service Award, Hudson has received numerous accolades and recognitions for her professional accomplishments and her philanthropic activities. She has been featured in numerous print articles in periodicals like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Forbes. She currently serves on the USO Worldwide Board of Governors, Blue Star Families Board of Directors, Executive Committee of the Aerospace Industries Association and the University of Florida Foundation Board. She is a member of the prestigious International Women's Forum and C200, the premier global organization of women business leaders. Hudson received C200’s 2010 Luminary Award for Corporate Innovation. For the past three years, Hudson was named one of Fortune Magazine's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and, in 2010, was named as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington, D.C., by Washingtonian Magazine.
