James Guyette, president and chief executive officer of Rolls-Royce North America (RRNA), will be the featured speaker at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s graduation ceremony for 426 students on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 10 a.m. in the university’s ICI Center. Guyette will receive the university’s Distinguished Speaker Award.

Guyette oversees all Rolls-Royce companies and operations in North America, encompassing more than 8,000 employees at 70 facilities in the United States and Canada. In 2002, total RRNA sales exceeded $2.8 billion.

He is an executive director on the Rolls-Royce North American Holdings Board and serves on the boards of Rolls-Royce PLC and Pembroke. Guyette joined Rolls-Royce in 1997.

Rolls-Royce North America, headquartered in suburban Washington, D.C., manufactures engines for land, sea, and air applications, with more Rolls-Royce engines built in the United States than anywhere else in the world. Global customers include government agencies, civil and military aircraft manufacturers, commercial airlines, corporate and regional operators, public utilities, independent power producers, pipeline operators, and on-shore and off-shore oil producers.

Before joining Rolls-Royce North America, Guyette had a 28-year career with United Airlines. Most recently, he was executive vice president responsible for all marketing, sales, fleet, and route planning and scheduling. Formerly he was executive vice president accountable for all aspects of the airline’s daily operations and assistant to the chairman of the board. Guyette earned a Laurels Award from Aviation Week & Space Technology for his role on the team that designed, developed, and launched the Boeing 777.

Guyette serves on the National Research Council’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and is a director of the Private Bank and Trust Co. in Chicago. He is a member of the Board of Governors for the Aerospace Industries Association, president of the Wings Club, and a founding member and current treasurer of the Aviation Safety Alliance. He also serves on the National Board of Advisors for the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis.

Guyette received a B.S. in Business Administration from Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, Calif. He now serves on the college’s Board of Regents.

Embry-Riddle, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, meets the needs of students and industry through its educational, training, research, and consulting activities. Embry-Riddle educates more than 25,000 students annually through the master’s level at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., at more than 130 learning centers in the United States and Europe, and through distance learning.

FMI: www.erau.edu