The Naval Postgraduate School Foundation announced RTX as its 2026 Corporate Partner of the Year during the 21st Annual America’s Heroes Charity Golf Tournament Dinner on June 8.
The award recognizes RTX’s sustained collaboration with the Naval Postgraduate School to drive forward cutting-edge education, research and innovation across critical aerospace and defense technology areas in both unclassified and classified environments. RTX’s support of a variety of initiatives, such as the Meyer Scholar Program, has helped cultivate the next generation of naval leaders and innovators by connecting students with industry experts and technologies.
“The enduring partnership between NPS and RTX enables defense-relevant education, research and innovation rooted in the operational environment. NPS and RTX are innovating with speed and purpose to ensure that the technologies shaping the future capabilities are informed by those who will rely on them when it matters most. We are proud to recognize RTX as our 2026 Corporate Partner of the Year,” said Todd Lyons, Executive Vice President, NPS Foundation.
Over the past decade, RTX has built a strong partnership with both the NPS Foundation and NPS, strengthening the research efforts and supporting the core educational mission of the Naval Postgraduate School. In April, the NPS Foundation recognized RTX for its early and sustained contributions to the Naval Innovation Center at NPS, including advocacy and technical expertise.
“At RTX, we value collaborating with world-class university research programs to complement our internal innovation efforts, and ensure we bring the most competitive and discriminating technologies to our customers,” said Juan de Bedout, RTX Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. “Our longstanding partnership with the Naval Postgraduate School exemplifies this approach, helping us develop and deliver advanced technologies that directly support and empower the fleet to meet the critical challenges facing them today and in the future.”
The NPS-RTX partnership, which was formalized in 2019 with a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), is built on a shared approach to operationally informed innovation. Under the CRADA, NPS and RTX have collaborated in critical areas such as undersea warfare, directed energy, hypersonics, wargaming, autonomy, AI and more. With renewed agreements in place as of 2025, NPS and RTX are positioned to expand collaboration in areas such as mission engineering and operations analysis, advanced propulsion concepts, long‑range fires, and resilient command‑and‑control architectures.
The Corporate Partner of the Year Award is presented annually to industry leaders who bring critical technology, insight and resources into the hands of Naval Postgraduate School students and faculty to accelerate the development and adoption of capabilities that enhance mission readiness, strengthen deterrence and advance impactful global initiatives.
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The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement does not constitute endorsement of RTX or its products and services by the Naval Postgraduate School, the Department of the Navy, or the Department of War.
The Naval Postgraduate School Foundation is a non-federal entity. It is not part of the DOD or any of its components and has no governmental status.
