André W. Thornton
Operations Engineer II
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company

André Thornton was an honor student and a star athlete in high school and received a full scholarship to Virginia Military Institute, where his academic, athletic, and student leadership success continued. By graduation, he had several job offers and invitations to try out for the National Football League. Thornton chose Lockheed Martin, where he immediately impressed his superiors by mastering a 3-D simulation program in two months rather than the planned year and became the resident expert in the field. His simulation work on a tool redesign for the F-22 fighter program resulted in a $2.3-million savings. He received his employer's top employee award for his work -- the Star award -- in 1999, and has been put on a management track.

Thornton serves as a mentor and role model to young people in his community through INROADS and other programs and is pursuing an M.B.A. with a concentration in information systems at Georgia State University.