Raytheon workers among top African-American engineers

Fourteen Raytheon Company employees were recognized during the 2007 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) national conference in Baltimore, February 15-17.

The Black Engineer of the Year Awards are chosen by an industry-wide selection panel and are presented in more than 25 categories.

"The diverse thoughts and achievements of the BEYA honorees help us to create better solutions for our customers," said John Harris, Raytheon executive diversity champion and vice president of Contracts and Supply Chain. "They are at the core of Raytheon's success."

One of BEYA's top honors went to Wyllstyne Hill, vice president of Information Technology and chief information officer for Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., who was awarded the prestigious Career Achievement in Industry Award and was recognized as one of the Top 100 Blacks in Technology.

Hill was selected for her performance as a role model as well as her body of work and its social and economic impact. In her role at Raytheon Missile Systems, Hill provides vision and direction enabling the enterprise to achieve strategic technology and business objectives. She joined Raytheon (previously Hughes Aircraft Company) in 1971.

In addition, Wesley Haswell, of Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, El Segundo, Calif., is the first African-American to lead a large multi-disciplined department as Analog Design Engineering Department manager for the Texas Engineering Center (TEC), Dallas. He received a special award in recognition of professional achievement.

Twelve employees were also named Modern Day Technology Leaders at a special conference event. These young, extraordinary performers and leaders were recognized for shaping the future of engineering with the contributions they have made to Raytheon and to industry. They are Shamika Rucker, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems; Vicky McKenzie, Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems; Edward Kimbrough, Cedric Fletcher and Shanique Smith, Raytheon Missile Systems; and Kelvin Bunn, Clarence Johnson Jr., Erick Jones, Regina Owens Dillard, William Pack, Carol Smith, and Mark Thomas, Space and Airborne Systems.