Technology >> CEO Interviews >> January 7, 2002
WALTER E. BOOMER is President and CEO of Rogers Corporation. He
completed 34 years of service in the United States Marine Corps, during
which he reached the rank of General and served as Assistant Commandant.
General Boomer joined the Marine Corps in 1960 after graduating from
Duke University. His service included two tours in Vietnam, where he was
a combat commander in 1966 and 1967 and an advisor to a South Vietnamese
Marine infantry battalion in 1971 and 1972. General Boomer was promoted
to Brigadier General in 1986 and named Director of Public Affairs at
Marine headquarters in Washington, DC. In 1988, he was given command of
the 4th Marine Division (Rein.), FMF in New Orleans. During this
assignment, he was promoted to Major General in 1988 and to Lieutenant
General in 1990. Shortly after his promotion to Lieutenant General,
General Boomer was deployed to Saudi Arabia, where he was the Commanding
General, U.S. Marines Central Command and First Marine Expeditionary
Force during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In 1991, at the
completion of his service in the Middle East, General Boomer was the
Commanding General, First Marine Expeditionary Force/Commanding General,
Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton, California; later that year, he was
named Commanding General, Marine Combat Development Command at Quantico,
Virginia. He was promoted to General and named Assistant Commandant of
the Marine Corps in 1992 and held that position until his retirement in
1994. From 1994 until November 1996, General Boomer was Executive Vice
President of McDermott International and President of Babcock and Wilcox
Power Generation Group. In April 1997, General Boomer was named
President and Chief Executive Officer of Rogers Corporation, located in
Rogers, Connecticut. General Boomer, a native of Rich Square, North
Carolina, holds a BA from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina and
a MS in Technology of Management from American University in Washington,
DC. He graduated with distinction from the Naval War College. Profile
Rogers today? General Boomer: We consider ourselves to be a specialty
materials company. Our focus is on technology,
