WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Maria E. Ruess, a Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) vice president of business development, will serve on the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation Board of Trustees. She was nominated by President Barack Obama in May and recently confirmed by the Senate.

Since joining Lockheed Martin in 1999, Ruess has held various positions of increasing responsibility in business development, program management, engineering and finance. In May, Ruess was named vice president for international business development and strategy within the Mission Systems & Sensors business, headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was formed by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater. The organization encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering and awards scholarships to undergraduate sophomores and juniors from the U.S.

Ruess has more than 20 years of experience supporting professional development with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). A former teacher at Saint Bernard's High School in Los Angeles and a Hands on Science Outreach volunteer at her local school, Ruess continues to mentor students through organizations such as the Hispanic College Fund and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, and is a board member of Great Minds in STEM™. She is also an active leader in many Lockheed Martin organizations including the Women's Success Forum, the Executive Diversity Council and the Hispanic Mentoring and Leadership Association, as well as the chair of the Hispanic Leadership council.

Ruess was honored as one of the Most Influential Hispanics in Technology and Business from Career Communications Group, Inc. at a ceremony this summer. In 2009, she received the Pioneer Award from Great Minds in STEM, a non-profit organization that focuses on STEM educational awareness programs for students from kindergarten to careers.  

Ruess received her bachelor's degree in engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Cali, Colombia, and earned her master's of business administration from George Washington University.

Lockheed Martin invests heavily in STEM education programs. In 2010 alone, the Corporation spent more than $12 million on K-12 and higher education programs and scholarships. Lockheed Martin employees also volunteered nearly 200,000 hours in education-related activities. Overall, Lockheed Martin delivered standards-based, STEM-related curriculum to 3.5 million students through direct classroom engagement of its employees and strategic education partnerships with NASA, National Geographic, and the National Science Foundation.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 126,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's 2010 sales from continuing operations were $45.8 billion.

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SOURCE Lockheed Martin