Gooden makes giant leap at Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corp. yesterday promoted Linda R. Gooden to head the $4 billion information and technology services unit, taking over for Michael F. Camardo, who is retiring.

Starting in January, Gooden, 53, will be executive vice president of the IT&S unit, which primarily delivers services to government agencies. She will report directly to Chairman Bob Stevens.

Gooden, a 26-year employee of Lockheed Martin, has been president of Lockheed Martin Information Technology in Seabrook, Md., since 1997, growing that unit to 14,000 employees. Before that, she was vice president of the software support services unit and held positions in the data systems and information systems units. She also worked as a software engineer for General Dynamics Corp.

"Linda is an extremely capable leader who has demonstrated her ability to create value for our customers and profitable growth for our company and its shareholders," Stevens said in an announcement of the move. "We are fortunate to have such a talented executive on our leadership team."

Gooden was named 2006 Black Engineer of the Year by U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine. She holds a degree in computer technology from Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio, and a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Maryland University College.

In 2005, the University of Maryland University College awarded Gooden an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree.

Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Md., has about 140,000 employees and had annua sales of $37 billion in fiscal 2005. The company ranks No. 1 on Washington Technology's 2006 Top 100 list of the largest federal IT contractors.