At age 47, Taylor W. Lawrence's career has followed a trajectory as dramatic as many of the missiles produced at Raytheon Missile Systems, where he's been president since July 2008.

Lawrence attended the U.S. Naval Academy, switched to California Institute of Technology, then completed a master's and doctorate in applied physics at Stanford. He's done laser research and worked for the Pentagon, the U.S. Senate and Raytheon competitor Northrop Grumman.