Kent Kresa

Kent Kresa (born March 24, 1938) is an American businessman. Formerly, he was chairman and CEO of Northrop Grumman, as well as chairman of General Motors; and has worked with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Lincoln Laboratory at MIT, Avery Dennison, the Fluor Corporation, and the MannKind Corporation. Before being appointed as interim chairman of General Motors as a result the decisions made by President Barack Obama, Kresa was on the board.

Education Kresa was born in New York City; his father was the songwriter Helmy Kresa. He has B.S., M.S., and E.A.A. degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in aeronautics and astronautics, and received an honorary doctorate from Pepperdine University in 2003.

Career Kresa's career began when he was employed by the top-secret DARPA, where he was responsible for broad, applied research and development programs in the tactical and strategic defense arena. Then from 1961–68, Kresa was associated with the Lincoln Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), where he worked on ballistic missile defense research and reentry technology. Kresa then joined Northrop in 1975, became chairman in 1987, then CEO in 1990.

In 1997, he was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering for contributions in aeronautical technology.

When Kresa took over Northrop Grumman, he transformed the company, which like GM was on the brink of extinction. In a 2002 Los Angeles Times interview when the company was on the verge of closing, Kresa was quoted saying, "We could just go out of business and give money back to our shareholders or we could reinvent ourselves...It became clear to us we could take the latter path."

Under Kresa's control, Northrop Grumman was transformed resulting in the acquisition of 16 companies including TRW (with its Space Park in Redondo Beach, California). In an interview in 2008, he was asked if he thought that bailout money should come with a requirement that Wagoner be ousted. He replied "...And we're going to have to look at whatever the demands are from the individual who's bringing the money. But I don't think it's reasonable." Kresa was replaced as chairman by former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre on July 10, 2009.