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Dennis Muilenburg

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Dennis Muilenburg
Muilenburg in 2011
Born1964 (age 59–60)
Orange City, Iowa, U.S.
EducationIowa State University (BS)
University of Washington (MS)
OccupationBusiness executive
TitleFormer CEO, Boeing
Term2015–2019
PredecessorJames McNerney
SuccessorDave Calhoun
Signature

Dennis A. Muilenburg (born 1964) is an American engineer, business executive and a former president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Boeing, a multinational aerospace and defense company. He was CEO from 2015 to 2019, when he was fired in the aftermath of two crashes of the 737 MAX and its subsequent groundings.[1][2]

Muilenburg was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2018 for leadership in defense, space, security, and commercial aircraft.[3][4]

Early life and education

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Muilenburg grew up on a farm in Iowa.[5]

He graduated in 1982 from Sioux Center High School in Sioux Center, Iowa.[6] He received a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University, followed by a master's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington.[7]

Career

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Muilenburg started work at Boeing as an intern in 1985.[8][9]

Muilenburg held numerous management and engineering positions on various Boeing programs, including the X-32 (Boeing's entry in the Joint Strike Fighter competition); Boeing's participation in the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighter; the YAL-1 747 Airborne Laser; the High Speed Civil Transport; and the Condor unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. He was later vice president of the Boeing combat systems division and program manager for the Army Future Combat Systems program.[10] Muilenburg was president and chief executive officer of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, later renamed Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS), from September 2009 to 2015.

At the 787-10 Dreamliner rollout ceremony with President Donald Trump

In December 2013, Muilenburg became the president of Boeing.[10]

In June 2015, Boeing announced that Muilenburg would succeed James McNerney as CEO, who was stepping down after ten years in that role.[9] He became CEO in July 2015.[10]

In February 2016, it was announced that Muilenburg would also succeed McNerney as Boeing's chairman.[11] In March 2016, Muilenburg became the chairman of the board of directors of Boeing.[10] In 2018, Muilenburg agreed to a fixed-price contract to deliver two customized 747 planes to the U.S. government which left Boeing with billions in losses.[12] In March 2019, as a result of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash and the Lion Air Flight 610 crash, which occurred five months prior to the Ethiopian crash, most airlines and countries began grounding the Boeing 737 MAX 8 due to safety concerns.[13] On March 12, President Donald Trump spoke to Muilenburg and received assurances that the aircraft was safe.[14] Trump grounded the 737 MAX family of planes on March 13.

In October 2019, Boeing announced that the board had voted to separate the roles of chairman and CEO, both of which were held by Muilenburg. David L. Calhoun was elected to take over as non-executive chairman, while Muilenburg continued as CEO and president. The company said this change would enable Muilenburg to focus full-time on running the company, while it worked to return the Boeing 737 MAX to service.[15][16]

In November 2019, Muilenburg confirmed that he would not be taking a bonus for the year, after being criticized for the two plane crashes, which killed a total of 346 people.[17]

On December 23, 2019, Boeing announced that Muilenburg resigned as the CEO and board director, in the aftermath of the two crashes of 737 MAX aircraft. Although he forfeited stock worth $14.6m, Muilenburg was contractually entitled to receive $62.2m in stock and pension awards.[18]

This payment by Boeing attracted criticism. Michael Stumo who lost his daughter in the Ethiopian Airlines crash said, 'He was fired for poor performance, and he should be treated like any other production employee who gets fired for poor performance.' Zipporah Kuria lost her father Joseph and said, 'Nobody gets their benefits when they've screwed up this much. Muilenburg and my dad are, were, the same age. Two people, and one is a privileged person who gets away with having such a big part to play in the death of so many people, and the other who trusts a product and dies for it.' US Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote regarding the payment by Boeing, '346 people died. And yet, Dennis Muilenburg pressured regulators and put profits ahead of the safety of passengers, pilots, and flight attendants. He'll walk away with an additional $62.2 million. This is corruption, plain and simple.'[19]

He was succeeded as CEO and president by current chairman David L. Calhoun, effective January 13, 2020. During the transition, CFO Greg Smith served as interim CEO. Boeing's press release stated that, "The Board of Directors decided that a change in leadership was necessary to restore confidence in the Company moving forward as it works to repair relationships with regulators, customers, and all other stakeholders."[2]

In January 2020, Caterpillar Inc. announced that Muilenburg had resigned from its board (which he joined in 2011), and stated in a regulatory filing that his resignation was not due to any disagreement with the company.[20]

Memberships

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Board memberships

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Current
Previous

Other memberships

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Personal life

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Muilenburg cycles about 120 miles per week around the Chicago area, where Boeing was formerly headquartered.[30][31][32][33]

Muilenburg is married with two children.[6] He is a Baptist.[5]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ Gelles, David; Kitroeff, Natalie (December 23, 2019). "Boeing Fires C.E.O. Dennis Muilenburg". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Boeing Announces Leadership Changes". investors.boeing.com. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  3. ^ Burnett-Larkins, John (February 16, 2018). "National Academy of Engineering election for aerospace engineering grad Dennis Muilenburg". National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  4. ^ "National Academy of Engineering - Member Directory". National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Hufty, Tom (October 3, 2018). "Episode 4 - Faith at Work: an interview with Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of The Boeing Company from PointTaken". PointTaken (Podcast). First Baptist Maryville. Retrieved May 30, 2019 – via www.stitcher.com.
  6. ^ a b Weilenga, Renee (November 23, 2018). "Boeing CEO returns to native county". Sioux Center News. Archived from the original on February 8, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Dennis A Muilenburg, Boeing Co/The: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg Markets. Archived from the original on January 26, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  8. ^ Zhang, Benjamin (June 23, 2015). "The new Boeing CEO started as an intern at the company". Business Insider. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Boeing names new chief executive". The Daily Telegraph. Associated Press. June 23, 2015. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Boeing: Dennis A. Muilenburg". Boeing. The Boeing Company. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  11. ^ Johnsson, Julie (February 22, 2016). "McNerney retiring, Boeing adds chairman role for Muilenburg". The Seattle Times. Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  12. ^ Josephs, Dan Mangan,Leslie (April 27, 2022). "Boeing lost $1.1 billion on Trump Air Force One contract; CEO regrets deal". CNBC. Retrieved January 19, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Fox, Kara (March 12, 2019). "US and Canada are the only two nations still flying many Boeing 737 Max planes". CNN. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  14. ^ Shepardson, David; Mason, Jeff (March 12, 2019). "Ties between Boeing and Trump run deep". Reuters. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on June 3, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  15. ^ "Boeing Board of Directors Separates CEO and Chairman Roles". Boeing (Press release). October 11, 2019.
  16. ^ Cavaliere, Victoria; Isidore, Chris (October 12, 2019). "Boeing's board strips CEO of chairman role". CNN. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  17. ^ "Boeing boss gives up bonus following plane crashes". BBC News. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  18. ^ Rushe, Dominic (January 10, 2020). "Ousted Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg to receive $60m in stock and pension". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
  19. ^ "Anger over ex-Boeing chief's potential $80m payout". Financial Times. January 12, 2020.
  20. ^ "Former Boeing CEO Muilenburg resigns from Caterpillar board". CNBC. January 27, 2020. Archived from the original on April 10, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  21. ^ "Board of Trustees". The National WWII Museum. New Orleans. Archived from the original on November 12, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2019 – via nationalww2museum.org.
  22. ^ "About Otto".
  23. ^ "Officers and Directors". uschina.org. US-China Business Council. Archived from the original on April 18, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  24. ^ "Board of Directors".
  25. ^ "Board of Directors". caterpillar.com. Caterpillar. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  26. ^ "AIA Announces Board Elections for 2017". Aerospace Industries Association. November 17, 2016. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  27. ^ "Board of Directors". businessroundtable.org. Business Roundtable. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  28. ^ Weitering, Hanneke (February 21, 2018). "VP Mike Pence Announces Candidates for National Space Council Advisory Group". Space.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  29. ^ Burnett-Larkins, John (February 16, 2018). "National Academy of Engineering election for aerospace engineering grad Dennis Muilenburg". College of Engineering News. Iowa State University.
  30. ^ Ostrower, Jon; Cameron, Doug (June 26, 2015). "Boeing's Incoming CEO Is Engineer With Swagger". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019 – via www.wsj.com.
  31. ^ "Why Boeing's CEO Rides 140 Miles Per Week on His Bike". Bloomberg. August 8, 2018. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019. ("The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations" taped May 9, 2018)
  32. ^ Middlebrook, Hailey (October 11, 2018). "Here's Why Biking Makes CEOs Better Leaders". Bicycling. Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  33. ^ Bogaisky, Jeremy (April 12, 2019). "Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg Faces Mounting Pressure From 737 MAX Crashes". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  34. ^ "2019 AIAA Fellows Dinner". aiaa.org. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  35. ^ "AUSA Announces 2017 National Awards". ausa.org. Association of the United States Army. September 8, 2017. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  36. ^ "Honorees". tmcf.org. Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  37. ^ "2018 Honorees". UW College of Engineering. January 10, 2018. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  38. ^ McCoy, Daniel (January 7, 2019). "Aviation Week names Boeing CEO Muilenburg its 2018 Person of the Year". Wichita Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via www.bizjournals.com.

Further reading

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  • Robison, Peter (2021). Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing (Hardcover). New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385546492.
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Business positions
Preceded by CEO of Boeing
2015 – 2019 		Succeeded by
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