LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, presented the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership to Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) today at the White House in recognition of the company's commitment to forming community partnerships and empowering employees while promoting practices that improve business performance.
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Prominent business leaders, working in collaboration with the Department of Commerce, established the Ron Brown Award in 1997 as a tribute to the memory of Ron Brown, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce from 1993-1996.
Northrop Grumman's Defining the Future program brings communities, industry and academia together to address the declining interest in math and science by motivating students to pursue careers in those fields and ensure the future of the nation's technical workforce. The initiative reaches out to youth through curriculum, teacher and employee development; co-ops and internships; community and school support; and sponsorships, scholarships and partnerships, with a special emphasis on diversity.
"We believe it is imperative to establish relationships on the national and local levels -- working with students and teachers and forming partnerships in the community -- to address the declining number of engineering and technical/vocational students in the United States," said Ronald D. Sugar, chairman and chief executive for Northrop Grumman. "The Defining the Future program has been a successful model of industry and community partnership."
Defining the Future encompasses a wide range of efforts that includes programs focused on teacher development, including Northrop Grumman's Weightless Flights of Discovery. This program has sent more than 750 teachers on airplane flights that simulate weightlessness to experience a microgravity space-like environment and test Newton's laws of motion. The teachers then share their first-hand experiences with students back in the classroom.
Other company initiatives directly target students: in collaboration with Scholastic Inc., the company produced and distributed Mission: Define your Future, a set of classroom resources and materials that highlight real-work applications of science and technology and showcase the importance of technical education. The company also has an apprenticeship program, which furthers employees' shipbuilding skills; a high school involvement partnership program that helps educate youth about technical careers by partnering students with Northrop Grumman employees who serve as mentors and educators; and college internships that allow students to work side-by-side with employees on key programs.
In addition to reaching out to teachers and students, the company, through sponsorships and partnerships with many community-based organizations, provides volunteers for boards and committees and offers financial support to strengthen community efforts. For example, the company partners with Sally Ride Science to focus on empowering young girls to consider careers in math, science and engineering.
"In partnership with Northrop Grumman, we aim to increase the number of girls who are technically literate and have the foundation to pursue careers in the science, math and engineering fields," said Sally Ride, the first woman in the American space program to take part in an orbital mission. "Our programs create a community of support for girls and young women interested in these fields, and, together, we hope to keep aspiring female scientists, engineers and mathematicians in the pipeline."
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $30 billion global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.
