TEWKSBURY, Mass., June 8, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Northeastern University (NU) elected Dan Smith to its Board of Overseers at the annual Board of Trustees meeting in May. Smith is a vice president of Raytheon Company and president of Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems.

Entering an important transition time for the university, trustee members are looking for board members who will continue to drive momentum in a positive direction. Raytheon has built a long-lasting relationship with Northeastern through co-op and other programs. Raytheon currently employs about 1,100 NU alumni. Northeastern's strong emphasis on math and science education aligns perfectly with Raytheon's community efforts.

"Raytheon promotes engineering and science education at all levels in our schools -- from middle school through the 70 students we hired this year from Northeastern's co-op program," said Smith. "We also sponsor the Summer Bridge Program -- Northeastern's engineering education diversity initiative for inner-city students. This is another way for us to develop our best students into the engineers and leaders of the future."

Smith also serves on the Massachusetts Business Roundtable and is a co-chair of the Rhode Island Blue Ribbon Panel on Mathematics and Science education.

Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in Joint Battlespace Integration providing affordable, integrated solutions to a strong international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. armed forces.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2005 sales of $21.9 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.

  Contact:
  Guy Shields
  978.858.5246

SOURCE: Raytheon Company

CONTACT: Guy Shields of Raytheon Company, +1-978-858-5246

Web site: http://www.raytheon.com/