WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will nominate Barbara Barrett, a former chair of the Aerospace Corporation, to be secretary of the Air Force.
"I am pleased to announce my nomination of Barbara Barrett of Arizona, and former Chairman of the Aerospace Corporation, to be the next Secretary of the Air Force," Trump said on Twitter.
"She will be an outstanding Secretary!," he added.
Heather Wilson resigned as Air Force Secretary in March to return to academia and become president of the University of Texas at El Paso.
The Aerospace Corporation is a national nonprofit company that operates a federally funded research and development center and has approximately 4,000 employees, according to its website.
Barrett was U.S. Ambassador to Finland in 2008-09 during the presidency of George W. Bush.
Barrett unsuccessfully ran for Arizona governor in 1994 as the first Republican woman to seek that office. She also was deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and vice chair of the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board. She is married to Craig Barrett, retired chief executive of Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC). .