Lockheed Martin announced in a press release that its board of directors has elected former AT&T Communications CEO John M. Donovan to the board, effective immediately.

AT&T is a wholly owned subsidiary of communications giant AT&T, Inc., and Donovan served as its CEO from August of 2017 until he retired in October of 2020.

The press release stated:

The board determined that Donovan is an “independent director” in accordance with the New York Stock Exchange listing standards, the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the corporation’s corporate governance guidelines. Donovan will serve on the corporation’s Classified Business and Security Committee.

The press release described his career before taking on the CEO position at ATT&T Communications as follows:

He was chief strategy officer and group president of AT&T Technology and Operations from January 2012 through August 2017, and chief technology officer of AT&T Inc. from April 2008 through January 2012. Prior to AT&T, Donovan was executive vice president of product, sales, marketing and operations at VeriSign Inc., an internet infrastructure company. He also was chairman and CEO of inCode Telecom Group Inc., where he helped shape strategy for wireless carriers worldwide, and was a partner with Deloitte Consulting, where he was the Americas telecom practice director.

Lockheed Martin and Cobb County

The Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta has been a major employer in Cobb County since 1951, when the Lockheed Corporation, a predecessor of Lockheed Martin, took over the former site of the WWII Bell Bomber plant.

In response to a request by the Courier for a previous article, the spokesperson for the Marietta operations of the company wrote:

The C-130 remains the largest program at the Marietta site. We are currently building the C-130J Super Hercules and I’ve attached our updated Fast Facts for insights on that program. We’ve produced every production model C-130 at the Marietta site, which means Hercs have been rolling out of Marietta for almost 66 years. It’s staple here in Cobb County! You can learn more about the C-130J in our brochure located here.

We also provide support (i.e., sustainment) for the C-5 Galaxy, which wrapped up a major modification providing 52 C-5s with new engines and avionics, in 2018. We celebrated the C-5’s 50^th anniversary in 2018 and expect to see that aircraft in service – thanks to its upgrades and unique hauling capabilities – until 2045. See press release for more information. We also support the P-3 Orion through Marietta-based teams. Additionally, we manufacture F-35 center wings here in Marietta.