This is an edited transcript of an oral history interview of Thomas V. Jones conducted by Peter Westwick. Thomas V. Jones was CEO of Northrop for three decades, from 1960 to 1990. This is the third of three sessions with Jones; this interview reviews his early career but focuses on Northrop’s work on the B-2 Stealth bomber. Tom Jones was born July 21, 1920 in Pomona, CA. He graduated from Stanford with a degree in engineering and worked for Douglas in El Segundo during World War II. From 1947 to 1950 he worked in Brazil for its Ministeria D’Aeronautica. He then worked for RAND, where he wrote a major report on air transport. In 1953 he took a job at Northrop as assistant to the chief engineer, where projects included on the Snark missile and F-89 interceptor. He also worked on the N-156, which evolved into the T-38 trainer. He became president of Northrop in 1959, CEO in 1960, and chairman of the board in 1963. Under Jones Northrop developed the F-5 fighter and B-2 stealth bomber. His tenure as CEO included allegations of kickbacks to foreign governments and improprieties on an MX missile guidance contract, and illegal political contributions to the Nixon campaign. He retired as CEO in 1990. He died January 7, 2014. His personal papers are at the Huntington Library. [Object file name], Aerospace Oral History Project, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
