I recently read in the Los Angeles Times that Tom Jones, former CEO of Northrop, died a couple of weeks ago. Jones was probably the last of the maverick aerospace top executives from the ’60s, and he turned Northrop into a real global power to be reckoned with.

While I didn’t personally know Tom Jones, I knew Don Hicks very well. Don served under Tom as Northrop’s senior vice president, marketing and technology, and later served as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and on SAIC’s board.

According to Hicks, Tom Jones “…was a brilliant thinker. He took Northrop from nothing and made it into a viable corporation. Then through a lot of effort, it moved to the top tier of the industry.” I wish Tom’s family well.

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Don’t forget that we are looking for ideas for a new subtitle for the second edition of The SAIC Solution. If you’ve got an idea, please let me know. I think we have received 6 or 7 ideas now.

— Bob