Norman R. Augustine biography and career

Norman Augustine

Norman R. Augustine has played an influential role in the world of engineering and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The purpose of this discussion is to provide a biographical sketch of Augustine. In addition we will discuss his career accomplishments and how they have impacted America and the World. Finally we will focus on Augustine's theories and the book Augustine Laws.

Norman Augustine Biography

Norman Augustine was born in 1935 in Denver Colorado and grew up during World War II. (Outside experts Norman Augustine 2004) He was an exceptional student and entered Princeton in 1953 and received his bachelors of science in engineering in 1957. Augustine also received a master's degree from Princeton in 1959. (Norman R. Augustine)

He has also received several honorary doctorates in Engineering and Science from several institutions of learning throughout the country. (Norman R. Augustine)

In 1958, while still obtaining his masters at Princeton he worked for the Douglas Aircraft Company where he became a Chief Engineer and a Program Manager. (Norman R. Augustine Legacy) According to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers Augustine began working at the Office of the Secretary of Defense. (Norman R. Augustine Legacy) While there he served as the Assistant Director of Defense Research and Engineering. In 1970 he became part of the LTV Missiles and Space Company, where he was the Vice President of Advanced programs and marketing. (Norman R. Augustine Legacy)

The American Institute of Electrical Engineers also reports that Augustine went back to his government position as Assistant Secretary of the Army in 1973. He became the Secretary of the army in 1975. The article "Outside experts Norman Augustine" (2004) explains that Augustine served at the time of the Vietnam Ware which became a messy debacle.

In 1977, after leaving his post with the army he began working at that Martin Marietta Corporation and eventually became the COO and Chairman of the company in 1987 and 1988. When Lockheed Martin was founded in 1995 Augustine became President of the corporation and eventually became Chief Executive Officer in 1996.

According to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers Augustine has also held several different positions. These positions include;

Chairman of the American Red Cross, immediate Past President of the Boy Scouts of America, and Chairman of the National Academy of Engineering. He has served as national chairman of the U.S. Savings Bond Campaign; chairman of the Defense Policy Advisory Committee on Trade (DPACT); president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; president and chairman of the Association of the United States Army; chairman of the Defense Science Board; chairman of the Aeronautics Panel of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board; chairman of the Executive Council on Foreign Diplomacy; chairman of the NASA/White House Committee on the U.S. Space Program; chairman of the NASA Space Systems and Technology Advisory Committee; and as a member of the NASA Advisory Council."(Norman R. Augustine Legacy. 1996)

In addition, Augustine is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Institute of Electrical Engineering, American Astronautical Society and the Royal Aeronautical Society. He is also a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and the New York Academy of Sciences. (Norman R. Augustine Legacy. 1996)

The American Institute of Electrical Engineers also reports that Norman Augustine is a board member for various corporations and organizations. The article asserts that he is a member and chairs numerous advisory committees and serves as council to research institutions. (Norman R. Augustine Legacy. 1996) He also serves a myriad of government agencies include "the White House, U.S. Senate, NASA, FAA, and the Departments of Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force, Energy, and Transportation, the General Accounting Office, and NATO." (Norman R. Augustine Legacy. 1996)

Augustine has been awarded several distinguished honors during his lifetime. On four occasions Norman Augustine has received the highest civilian honor that the Department of Defense awards, the Distinguished Service Medal. (Lockheed CEO to Deliver... 1996) He has also been awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air Force Exceptional Service Medal. (Lockheed CEO to Deliver... 1996)

Augustine has also been awarded the National Medal of Technology, the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, and the Department of Treasury Medal of Merit. (Commissioner n.d.) In addition, in 1996 he garnered the Institute of Electrical Engineering Founders Medal "For distinguished and innovative corporate and technical leadership in aerospace, electronics and the defense industry." (Norman R. Augustine Legacy 1996)

Today Augustine is still involved with Lockheed Martin and serves as an executive committee chairman. (Outside experts Norman Augustine 2004) He also plays a very important role as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Team. The magazine, Government Executive explains,

After 9/11, Augustine became a member of the President's Council of Advisers on Homeland Security, which has evolved into Secretary Ridge's Homeland Security Advisory Council. He is also a long-serving member of the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. Today, Augustine is confident that Al Qaeda is "disrupted," even "decapitated," and that it cannot easily repeat 9/11. But that hardly makes him sanguine. "I don't want to be too specific here," he said, "but we've got to be prepared for a total change in their tactics." (Outside experts Norman Augustine 2004)

Augustine is an accomplished author with such books as The Defense Revolution, Augustine's travels and Augustine's Laws. He is a noted speaker and has lectured at events throughout the world. Augustine is well respected in his field of expertise and is a sought after advisor.

He is also an avid traveler and has been to the North and the South Pole. Augustine seems to have an inclination towards adventure, the Institute of Electrical Engineers reports that he has backpacked in the Rockies, hot air ballooned in Africa, and dog sledded in through the Artic, explored volcanoes and rafted the Grand Canyon. (Norman R. Augustine Legacy 1996)

In addition to all of his other accomplishments he is also a family man. He is married to a Swedish woman named Meg Engman. (Norman R. Augustine Legacy 1996) Together they have two children Rene and Greg; Rene is a lawyer and Greg is an electrical engineer. (Norman R. Augustine Legacy 1996)

Career Accomplishments

As we mentioned previously in our discussion Augustine is well respected in his field. He has made numerous contributions to the American Defense Department as we know it today. A book entitled "Responding to Defense Dependence: Policy Ideas and the American Defense Industrial Base" one of the theories that Augustine had was that the Industrial Base of the Defense Department would become too dependent upon foreign suppliers for essential components such as semi-conductors and semi-conductor technology. (Pages 1996)

The book asserts that at this time Augustine was the chairman of the Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force on Semiconductor Dependency.

At the time that he held this particular position a Semiconductor agreement had been signed but had proven to be ineffective against American dependence on Japanese semiconductors. (Pages 1996) Instead of bettering the situation the author explains that The agreement actually raised costs for U.S. chip consumers, 22 and did little to stem Japanese market dominance or tile erosion in U.S. market share. Between 1986 and 1989, Japanese imports as a share of total U.S. semiconductor consumption rose from 9.8% to 21.1%. U.S. exports as a percentage of total Japanese semiconductor consumption rose from only 5% to 7% over this same period. 23 Even more worrisome for American leaders was the fact that Japanese market dominance was creating a situation of potentially dangerous defense dependence for semiconductors and semiconductor technology. Comprehensive figures on semiconductor dependence did not exist, but industry-level evidence, 24 combined with a declining market share for U.S. producers, raised many concerns over the national security implications of these trends. (Pages 1996)

Understanding the dilemma Augustine felt that "If the present decline in... industrial vitality continued, there appears little question that defense manufacturers will have to turn to overseas suppliers and accept overseas dependence for these essential components" (Pages 1996) He understood that national security could be greatly compromised if this foreign dependence continued. To combat this problem the task force headed by Norman Augustine decided to devise a plan that would attempt to match Japan's expertise in the area of semiconductor manufacturing. (Pages 1996)

Thus the Sematech Plan was proposed in 1987; this plan asserted that a public-private consortium would be developed. (Pages 1996)

In addition, Augustine and the DSB called for the creation of the Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology Institute to be financed by the Department of Defense. (Pages 1996)

DSB believed that industry and government would form a joint arrangement to produce Drams and sell them on the open market. (Pages 1996)

Sematech was actually created in the summer of 1987. Pages (1996) reports that the DSB and Augustine's input was instrumental in the formation of the organization. Sematech has changed the Semiconductor manufacturing industry in America and throughout the world. (Pages 1996) Sematech is still in existence and is now know as International Sematech. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas and includes such members as IBM, AMD and Hewlett-Packard. (Welcome to International Sematech 2004)

In addition to his success with the Department of Defense he has also been a successful CEO of Lockheed Martin. A book entitled "Defense Addiction: Can America Kick the Habit?," explains that Augustine played an instrumental role in the success that the firm has enjoyed over the years. The author contends that,

As president and CEO of Martin Marietta, a fast-growing aerospace giant, he single-mindedly pursued consolidation. A few years earlier, he might not have predicted Martin Marietta's merger in 1995 with rival Lockheed, but the logic of Augustine's vision led to the marriage of these two, the second and third biggest defense contractors. With declining military budgets, Augustine saw four options for Pentagon contractors. First, they could try to convert to commercial production. Noting past failures, he suggested that it would be very hard for defense companies to break into commercial fields already dominated by civilian firms. Second, defense contractors could "hunker down," a choice Augustine associated with business failure. Third, they could liquidate. This, he said, would make the shareholders rich, but "that's tearing things apart, not building." Fourth, they could consolidate, a path leading to growth and lowered costs. This is the path Martin Marietta followed by buying General Electric (GE) Aerospace and the General Dynamics Space Systems Division. Maryland-based Martin Marietta almost doubled its assets with the 1993 purchase of GE Aerospace even with the resulting layoff of 11,000 workers. For Augustine, size is clearly a key to survival." (Gottlieb 1997)

The book asserts and Augustine was indeed in favor of mergers and believed that they were more cost effective. In fact Augustine argued that mergers between defense companies could save the Department of Defense millions of dollars each year and increase productivity. (Gottlieb 1997) his insight into productivity and cost effective mergers allowed Lockheed Martin to become the successful firm that it is today

Theories and Augustine's Laws

Augustine had some definite theories concerning defense conversion. In an article entitled "Defense Conversion: Bulldozing the Management" written by Augustine and Kenneth L. Adelman these theories are explained. In the article the authors assert that defense conversion is complicated by the fact that the civilian work is rarely related to defense. Augustine and his colleague assert that defense conversion just doesn't work.

The article promotes the theory that the term "defense conversion" shouldn't even be used. The authors assert that,

Defense conversion should not even be regarded 'conversion' at all: "Rather it is the result of two independent and parallel actions: shedding many elements of the defense sector; and absorbing those assets into a new entrepreneurial consumer sector. The way to increase the production of sausage-making machines is to expand the sausage factory... not to anoint the rocket makers as sausage makers... The bad news here is for the managers, most of whom become unsalvageable."(Adelman and Augustine 1992)

Some argue that instead of destroying old or unwanted military items they should be converted and used in business. Augustine's theory asserted that products that were once used for matters of defense could not be converted to be used for civilian work. He believed that attempts of conversion in places like the former of Soviet Union is proof that Augustine's assertions are correct.