Thomas B. Fargo

Thomas B. Fargo, Chairman of the Board [hi-res photo]

Admiral Thomas B. Fargo, U.S. Navy (Ret.), became the Chairman of Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII), America's largest military shipbuilder, on March 31, 2011. HII was previously a business sector of Northrop Grumman Corp.

Following a distinguished career serving the U.S. Navy and the Department of Defense, Admiral Fargo transitioned to corporate leadership as president of Trex Enterprises, a privately held technology company, in March 2005. In April 2008, he became a managing director of J.F. Lehman and Co., with principal responsibilities as president and CEO of HSF Holdings/Hawaii Superferry. He currently holds the John M. Shalikashvili Chair in National Security Studies at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR).

Admiral Fargo completed his military career as the 20th officer to hold the position of commander of the U.S. Pacific Command. As the senior U.S. military commander in East Asia, the Pacific and Indian Ocean areas, he led the largest unified command while directing the joint operations of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps across 100 million miles.

He was responsible to the President through the Secretary of Defense as the U.S. military representative for collective defense arrangements in the Pacific. Admiral Fargo also served as the 29th commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet from October 1999 to May 2002. His service as a leader in the Pacific was preceded by his command of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Naval Forces of the Central Command during two years of Iraqi contingency operations from July 1996 to July 1998.

His 35 years of service included six tours in Washington, D.C., in addition to five commands in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Middle East. Born in San Diego, he attended high school in Coronado, Calif., and Sasebo, Japan. Admiral Fargo graduated from the United States Naval Academy in June 1970 and has additional governance, business and financial training from Harvard University and Stanford University.

He is a 1989 recipient of the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership. Admiral Fargo serves on the boards of directors for Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE: ALEX), Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE: HE), Matson, Inc. (NYSE: MATX) and United States Automobile Association (USAA) in addition to smaller private equity and venture capital portfolio companies.

Previous service included the Boards of Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) and Hawaiian Airlines (NASDAQ: HA). He is active in the community, serving on the boards of directors for the Japan-America Society of Hawaii, the Friends of Hawaii Charities and the Iolani School Board of Governors.