Profile
Phebe Novakovic: Leading with industrial discipline
General Dynamics’ chair and CEO has guided an aerospace and defense company where execution, trust and long cycles matter.
Quick facts
- Born / age
- Born in 1957 · about 68–69
- Parents
- Family names are not broadly disclosed; she has spoken of her father’s immigrant experience
- Education
- Smith College; Wharton School (MBA)
- Companies & ventures
- General Dynamics; director at JPMorgan Chase
Novakovic’s rise through strategy, planning and operating roles shows the importance of internal depth in complex industries.
Early life and education
Phebe N. Novakovic was born in 1957. Standard General Dynamics biographies do not publish an exact birthday or the names of her parents. In a public conversation, she has spoken about the values and gratitude her father brought from his immigrant experience, but the family has otherwise maintained a relatively private profile.
Novakovic earned a degree from Smith College and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Her early career included service as a CIA operations officer and work in the White House Office of Management and Budget, where she focused on defense and intelligence budgets. That background gave her a mix of public-sector, security and financial experience.
Companies, holdings and ventures
Novakovic joined General Dynamics in 2002 and advanced through strategic planning, planning and development, marine systems and chief operating roles. She became Chairman and CEO in 2013. General Dynamics is publicly traded, so she leads it as an executive and board chair rather than owning it as a private founder.
She also serves as a director of JPMorgan Chase. Her career is best understood as long-term leadership within institutions that operate in regulated, capital-intensive environments. The business asset she has built is managerial depth: a rare ability to connect strategy, programs, operations and governance.
A business built on trust
Phebe Novakovic has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Dynamics since 2013. The company operates across aerospace, marine systems, combat systems and technology, serving customers whose work often depends on long-term planning, specialized engineering and reliable delivery.
In this kind of business, a leader’s decisions can play out over years rather than quarters. Programs involve detailed requirements, significant capital and high expectations around quality, security and service.
Depth of experience
Novakovic joined General Dynamics in 2002 and held roles in strategic planning, planning and development, marine systems and operations before becoming CEO. That progression gave her broad exposure to how the company’s businesses work and where disciplined investment can strengthen them.
She also serves as a director of JPMorgan Chase, adding another perspective on governance and large-scale financial stewardship.
The leadership lesson
Novakovic’s career underscores the value of operating depth. In technically demanding industries, credibility grows from knowing the business well enough to make clear choices about people, capital and the capabilities customers will need next.