Lester Lyles

Lester L. Lyles, a retired Four-Star General of the U.S. Air Force, has been an independent consultant since 2003. Prior to that time, he served in the U.S. Air Force for over 35 years as: Commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center from 1994 to 1996; Director of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization from 1996 to 1999; Vice Chief of Staff of the Headquarters of the U.S. Air Force from 1999 to 2000; and Commander of the U.S. Air Force Materiel Command from 2000 to 2003.

General Lyles holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University in Washington D.C. and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology Program from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. He is a graduate of the Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia, the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., and the National and International Security Management Course at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. General Lyles received Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from New Mexico State University and Urbana University and was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2009.

General Lyles is a director of Frontier Technology Inc. and serves on the JobsOhio Board of Directors. He is also a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Chair of the Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (DACODAI), which reports to the secretary of defense of the U.S., a senior principal advisor to Elara Nova, a space-focused consultancy, a member of the National Air and Space Museum Board, the Chair of the NASA Advisory Council, which reports to the NASA Administrator, the Chair of the National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group (UAG), which reports to the vice president of the U.S., and the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). General Lyles previously served as a director of General Dynamics Corporation, retiring in May 2020, and Battelle Memorial Institute, a nonprofit organization, retiring in November 2019. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the United Services Automobile Association, retiring from this position in August 2019. General Lyles served as a member of the Defense Science Board in the Pentagon, International Security Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of State, and President’s Intelligence Advisory Board in the White House. He also served as a director of Precision Castparts Corp. until its acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway in February 2016.

General Lyles joined the KBR Board in November 2007 and assumed the role of non-executive Chair of the Board in May 2019. He is also a member of the Cybersecurity Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.