User:Jonnymhenderson/sandbox

James "Jim" D. Taiclet is an American businessman as well as the chairman, CEO, and president of aerospace and defense manufacturing company Lockheed Martin after serving more than two years on its board of directors. He had previously served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of American Tower Corporation, the fourth largest listed telecommunications company in the U.S. Under his leadership as CEO, the company’s market capitalization grew from approximately $2 billion to over $100 billion. He guided the company’s transformation from a primarily U.S. business to the only truly global player in its industry, with significant assets and operations in 19 countries around the world.

Early life and education
He holds a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University, where he was awarded a fellowship at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and he is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy with degrees in engineering and international relations.

Career
Taiclet began his career as a United States Air Force officer and pilot, where he logged over 5,000 flying hours as an aircraft commander, instructor pilot, and unit chief of Standardization and Evaluation. His rotational assignments included the Joint Staff and Air Staff at the Pentagon, and he served in the Gulf War and among other missions, was a pilot in one of the first transport aircraft deploying U.S. forces into Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield (Iraq), a Lockheed Lockheed C-141B Starlifter.

After his military career, Jim worked as a Telecommunications and Aerospace Consultant for McKinsey & Company. After that, he served as vice president, Pratt & Whitney Engine Services, responsible for both military and commercial jet engine overhaul and repair. He then served as president of Allied Signal, subsequently Honeywell Aerospace, conducting worldwide aircraft engine and component overhaul and repair, parts sales and distribution, space operations, and technical services.

He then joined American Tower in 2004 as the chairman, president, and CEO Officer until transitioning to Executive Chairman in March 2020. Taiclet arrived at American Tower on September 10, 2001. The next day, planes struck the World Trade Center in New York, and the company lost 13 employees in the attack. A recession hit the telecommunications industry. The company was nearly delisted from the stock exchange. The experience taught him lessons in leadership in times of uncertainty and change.

He joined Lockheed Martin full-time in June 2020 as president and chief executive officer and transitioned to chairman, president, and CEO in March 2021.

Taiclet is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Business Roundtable, and the Business Council. He also serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Aerospace Industries Association, the Board of Trustees of Brigham and Women’s Health Care, Inc., and the Board of Directors of Catalyst Inc. In August 2015, he was appointed to the U.S.-India CEO Forum, and, in October 2018, he was appointed co-chair of the U.S.-India CEO Forum by the U.S. Department of Commerce.