David P. Hess
President, Pratt & Whitney
David P. Hess became president of Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX), on Jan. 1, 2009. He is responsible for the company's global operations in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines and industrial power systems. With an active, installed aero engine base of 68,000, an unmatched global service network and strong partnerships in manufacturing and servicing engines, the company had revenues of $14 billion in 2012.
Under his leadership, Pratt & Whitney is manufacturing engines with exclusive PurePower® Geared Turbofan™ technology for Airbus, Bombardier, Embraer, Irkut and Mitsubishi and is the sole provider of the F135 engine for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter. Hess joined Pratt & Whitney after four years as president of Hamilton Sundstrand, the United Technologies division where he began his professional career in 1979.
He is immediate past chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association Board of Governors and serves on the board's executive committee. He serves on the board of Hartford HealthCare, parent company of Hartford Hospital and the Institute of Living. He is a vice chairman of the CEOs Against Cancer initiative of the American Cancer Society's New England Chapter. He also serves on the board of trustees of the National World War II Museum, and is vice chairman of the board of directors for The Discovery Center, a nonprofit group founded by Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward that works with students from Connecticut's urban centers and suburban communities on diversity and team-building.
Hess holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Hamilton College and a bachelor's and master's degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was awarded an MIT Sloan Fellowship in 1989 and earned a master's degree in management in 1990.