Fred W. O'Green*
Class of 1983
- Chairman & CEO Litton Industries, Inc.
If you choose to do things you like to do, you will do them well.
Born in Mason City, Iowa, Fred O'Green was the son of immigrants. O'Green taught music in high school but decided to go into engineering after enrolling at Iowa State University. During his college years, he waited tables and joined symphony and concert bands. After college and during World War II, he got a job at the Naval Ordinance Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and at the same time completed work for a master's degree in electrical engineering at the University of Maryland.
O'Green later helped pioneer the country's early entry into space in the late 1950s. As technical director of all space programs and assistant general manager of the space division at Lockheed Industries, O'Green was involved in accelerating the U.S. space program following the Soviet Union's 1957 launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite.
In 1962, O'Green joined Litton Industries as a general manager, and by 1972, he had become president. In 1981, he became chairman and CEO.