EADS North America
Isaac “Ike” Skelton was appointed to the EADS North America Board of Directors in April 2011. Globally, EADS is the parent company of some of the most recognized brands in the international aerospace and defense sector, including Airbus, Eurocopter, Astrium, and Cassidian. The company’s North American division had annual revenues in 2010 of more than $1.3 billion and employs more than 2,200 people in the U.S.
Prior to joining the Board of EADS North America, Skelton most recently served for seventeen successive terms as a U.S. Representative from Missouri. Skelton’s congressional career culminated in the role of chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in which capacity he served from 2007-2011.
Prior to his thirty-four years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Skelton served from 1971 to 1976 as a Missouri state senator. Before entering public service, his early career in the field of law encompassed both private practice and service as a prosecuting attorney in Lafayette County, Mo. He held the role of Special Assistant to the Missouri Attorney General from 1961 to 1963. He currently is a partner in the law firm of Husch Blackwell, LLP.
A lifelong native of Lexington, Mo., Skelton earned an Associate of Arts degree from Wentworth Military Academy and College in 1951 and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Missouri in 1953 and 1956, respectively. He authored Whispers of Warriors for the National Defense University, and is the recipient of 14 honorary master’s and doctoral degrees and more than 60 awards and tributes.
