Diane P. Murray and Karen Evans were honored with the 2005 Women of Color awards for managerial leadership and personal achievement.

Diane Murray was a chief information officer for Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector. She received the Managerial Leadership Award for her role as a partner in the development of sector plans, as well as in initiatives that promoted information technology (IT)-enabled new business opportunities for process improvement and cost reductions.

Murray led a team of IT managers and professionals responsible for verifying that the planning and integration of information and office systems, workplace automation, and telecommunications were based on technical standards, networks, and data formats with high reliability, mobility, and security of information.

Karen Evans, systems engineer manager for Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector, received the Professional Achievement Award. Evans was a 20-year veteran of the company and an expert in the field of ballistics and smart submunitions. Her work contributions included serving as the engineering manager and technical lead for the development of Active Protection Systems for the U.S. Army.

In 2006, four employees of Northrop Grumman Corporation were honored with Women of Color awards, recognizing their achievements in technology, engineering and science, and community leadership.

Stacie Suggs received the Community Service Award for her outstanding contributions. Active from a very young age, Suggs' commitment to increasing the number of women and people of color pursuing studies in math and science led to numerous national, regional, and local leadership roles within the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), often concurrently. She led initiatives resulting in record membership and retention numbers and increased the visibility of the organizations.

Suggs earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a master's degree in business administration from California State University, Long Beach. She was also working towards achieving her Laureate Certificate in Poetry from the International Library of Poetry.

Sandra Price received special recognition for 16 years of professional experience and exemplary performance in database development and maintenance. At Northrop Grumman, she supported a number of critical software engineering applications that are deployed to U.S. troops on the battlefield.

Price earned bachelor's degrees in management information systems and technical communications from the University of Alabama, Huntsville.

Contina Benn and Vesmiene Ceasor were each awarded Rising Star awards. Benn received the award for drive and initiative in organizing the Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and serving as the chapter's first president. She was instrumental in establishing the chapter that served the Gulf Coast facilities of Northrop Grumman in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss., and New Orleans. It should be noted that Benn's efforts to establish the chapter were concurrent with repairing major damage at her home after Hurricane Katrina.

Benn earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla.

Ceasor was honored for her performance in controlling the environmental design of the DDG 1000 program systems. She was responsible for the effort in the program's hazardous material management database, an innovative tool designed to eliminate/minimize hazardous materials in DDG 1000 processes and products.

Ceasor earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Southern University A&M, in Baton Rouge, La.