Alton D. Romig, Jr. is the NAE executive officer, responsible for the program, financial, and membership operations of the Academy, reporting to the president. Before joining the Academy, he served as vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Advanced Development Programs, better known as the Skunk Works®. He spent most of his career at Sandia National Laboratories, operated by the Lockheed Martin Corporation. He joined Sandia as a member of the technical staff in 1979 and moved through a succession of R&D management positions to his appointment as executive vice president in 2005. He served as the deputy laboratories director and chief operating officer until 2010 when he transferred to the Skunk Works.

Dr. Romig earned a BS, MS, and PhD in materials science and engineering from Lehigh University in 1975, 1977, and 1979, respectively. He is a fellow of ASM International, TMS, IEEE, AIAA, and AAAS, and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2003 and the Council of Foreign Relations in 2008. He was awarded the ASM Silver Medal for Materials Research in 1988.