Don Ruhmann

Chief Aerospace Safety Officer and Senior Vice President, Global Aerospace Safety Boeing

Last Reviewed: October 3, 2026

Executive Summary

Don Ruhmann is Boeing’s Chief Aerospace Safety Officer and Senior Vice President of Global Aerospace Safety, named to the role in 2025 and accountable to the Aerospace Safety Committee of Boeing’s board. He leads the company’s global aerospace safety strategy, with responsibility for product and services safety, safety analytics and its aviation safety system, and became a Section 16 executive officer in June 2026. A Boeing engineer since 1989, when he joined as a liaison engineer, he has spent his career on its widebody jets: as 777 fleet chief, director of 787 propulsion, engineering director for the 777 and 777X, chief project engineer for the 787 and head of development programs. He is also a private pilot.

Career Highlights

• Chief Aerospace Safety Officer and Senior Vice President, Global Aerospace Safety, since 2025.
• Vice President, Development Programs, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
• Vice President and Chief Project Engineer for the 787 program.
• Director of Engineering for the 777 and 777X program, within 2013 to 2020 engineering leadership roles.

Professional Journey

Ruhmann earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University and a master’s in applications of physics at the University of Washington, and later completed executive education at Columbia University. He joined Boeing in 1989 as a liaison engineer.

Over the following years he held technical and leadership roles including 777 fleet chief and director of 787 propulsion systems for type certification and initial delivery. As regional vice president of Commercial Aviation Services for the Middle East, Russia, Central Asia and Africa, he was the senior Boeing counterpart to airline technical and operations executives.

From 2013 to 2020 he held engineering leadership roles on the 777 and 777X, leading airplane-level integration and test for the 777X and then serving as director of engineering for both programs. He went on to be vice president and chief project engineer for the 787, responsible for its safety, product integrity, configuration and performance, and then vice president of development programs for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, taking new derivative airplanes from initial offering through certification with global regulators.

In 2025 he was named chief aerospace safety officer, a member of the Executive Council, and his Form 3 filing records him as an executive officer from June 2026. Boeing builds commercial airplanes and defense, space and security systems and provides aerospace services, and employs about 182,000 people, according to the company. He serves on the Texas A&M University College of Engineering Industry Advisory Council and holds a private pilot license.

Chief engineer Howard McKenzie, who leads Boeing’s engineering function, also came up through the 777 program, as its chief project engineer from 2017 to 2019.

Education

University of Washington

Master’s degree, Applications of Physics

Texas A&M University

Bachelor’s degree, Aerospace Engineering