Three leaders with expertise that spans national security, cybersecurity and early stage investments were elected to Aerospace’s Board of Trustees: The Honorable William A. LaPlante, president and chief executive officer of Draper Laboratory and former assistant secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition); Patricia J. Zarodkiewicz, former administrative assistant to the secretary of the U.S. Air Force and currently president of PatZconsulting; and Ray A. Rothrock, venture capitalist and cybersecurity expert.
- LaPlante is the president and chief executive officer of Draper Laboratory, a research and development corporation that provides advanced technology solutions in national security, space exploration, health care, and energy. Previous to this position, he was a senior vice president and general manager at MITRE National Security, where he oversaw the operation of two federally funded research and development centers, and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. Prior to MITRE, LaPlante was the assistant secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition), in Washington, D.C. where he brought the $43 billion Air Force acquisition enterprise budget into alignment with the Air Force vision and strategy.
- Zarodkiewicz is the president of PatZconsulting, a consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., and previously served as the administrative assistant to the secretary of the U.S. Air Force. As the Air Force’s senior career civilian adviser to the secretary and the USAF senior security official, she was responsible for performing a variety of high-level assignments to achieve policies, goals, and objectives. She administratively managed and supported the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force and its Secretariat and field operating agencies.
- Rothrock is a venture capitalist, cyber expert, clean energy advocate, and philanthropist. He founded and serves on the board of FiftySix Investments LLC, an investment firm that focuses on seed-stage, early-stage, and later-stage companies. He is also the executive chairman of RedSeal Inc., an enterprise cybersecurity firm. Previously, Rothrock was a partner and management committee member at the venture capital firm Venrock, where he led Internet and energy investment programs, including nine initial public offerings with multiple listings on the Forbes Midas list.
The Aerospace Corporation is a U.S.-based national nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center and has approximately 4,200 employees. With major locations in El Segundo, California; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the Washington, D.C., region, Aerospace addresses complex problems across the space enterprise through agility, innovation, and objective technical leadership.
