Spartan Profiles: Joanne Maguire

AEROSPACE STAR

            How many times have you heard someone say, “It’s not rocket science”?  Well, that demurral cannot be used by Joanne M. Maguire, ’75, vice president and deputy of Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems Co., Denver, CO.  Not only is her field rocket science, but she’s the No. 2 executive in a $6-billion-plus, 18,000-worker defense contractor company.  “I enjoy this job tremendously, for two reasons,” says Maguire, who was formerly vice president of business development for TRW Space & Electronics (now Northrup Grumman Space Technology).  “First, what we do is tremendously important in the grand scheme of things.  We build satellites that allow our fighters around the world to communicate effectively, we monitor world events, we built the Hubble telescope, and one of our systems, the Trident ballistic missile, helped to end the Cold War.  Two, we bring to bear cutting-edge technology, which is very stimulating.” 

            A native of Ridgefield, CT, Joanne came to MSU for the Alumni Distinguished Scholarship test.  Though she did not win, she liked MSU “even in February” and enrolled in MSU’s Lyman Briggs school, switching later to engineering.  “My advisor Bob Barr was great,” she recalls.  “He could take an arcane topic, break it down and convey it.” 

            Joanne loved MSU—though she capsized while taking a sailing class—and says MSU “provided a pretty good balance of academic pursuits and social pursuits.” 

            After MSU she joined TRW in Los Angeles and rose up the ranks.  “Aerospace turns out to be a very cerebral business,” explains Joanne.  “It’s not about whether you’re male or female, pink or purple.  It’s about your intellect.”  Her field should interest any student with a good math or science aptitude.  “Our business is no longer just about building tanks and weapons,” she explains. “The whole nature about using technology to make the world a safer place is becoming increasingly sophisticated and challenging.”