NNS Chairman Announces Retirement
On September 1, Pat Phillips, chairman and CEO of Tenneco's Newport News Shipbuilding division (NNS), announced that he would retire on November 1 after more than 46 years with the company. He began his career atthe yard in 1949 as a apprentice machinist, during which time he contributed to the production of Newport News' most famous ship, the passenger liner S.S. United States, which set a world speed record in its crossing of the Atlantic. While Mr. Phillips rose from his apprenticeship in 1949 to president in 1992, and chairman in 1994, the yard produced more than TOO ships, including: aircraft carriers John F. Kennedy, Nimitz, and Dwight D. Eisenhower; cruisers Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina; submarines Los Angeles, Hampton, and Newport News; and crude oil tankers Pacific and Atlantic.
"Many challenges remain for Newport News Shipbuilding," Mr. Phillips said. "But I leave the company in November encouraged by the fact that we continue to win new business, and encouraged by a current backlog of orders, roughly $5 billion, that is the envy of every shipbuilder in the world." Assuming the additional responsibilities of CEO isWilliam P. Fricks, president of NNS, who has spent his entire 29-year career at NNS. As president, and previously as executive vice president, he has been responsible for all business operations at the shipyard since 1992.
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