One of Washington's most influential industry trade associations, the Aerospace Industries Assn. (AIA), has made its long-awaited choice of a new president and CEO. He's John W. Douglass, who has been assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition. He came to the Pentagon after retiring as an Air Force Brigadier General in 1992.
Douglass assumes his new post Sept. 18, succeeding retiring Don Fuqua, a former 12-term Democratic Congressman from Florida who headed AIA for 11 years. Among his key accomplishments at AIA, Fuqua cites "the improvement in the working relationship between government and industry," as well helping bring about the abandonment of fixed-price development contracts and establishing a system of commercial buying practices at the Pentagon