Winter earned a
bachelor's degree (with highest distinction) in
physics from the
University of Rochester in 1969. He received a
master's degree in 1970, and a
doctorate in physics in 1972, from the
University of Michigan. He joined the
aerospace technology company
TRW in 1972, and directed
laser physics projects in
Redondo Beach, California. By 1978, he was head of the optics department there. In 1980, Winter received a three-year appointment to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (
DARPA), serving under Dr. Bob Cooper during the very early years of research into the Strategic Defense Initiative (
SDI) proposed by President
Ronald Reagan. Winter's main responsibility was for Talon Gold, an advanced acquisition, tracking, and pointing experiment in space. During that period, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense's Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service. Admiral
Michael Mullen and then-
MCPON Terry D. Scott In 1982, Winter resigned from his DARPA appointment early and returned to TRW, where he held senior systems engineering and program management responsibilities for a variety of space system programs for the next eight years. From 1990 through 1997, as vice president and general manager of the defense systems division of TRW's Space & Electronics (S&E) business, Winter directed space systems activities that supported the national defense effort. Winter was president and
CEO of TRW Systems from January 2000 until its acquisition by
Northrop Grumman in December 2002. After the Northrop acquisition, Winter became head of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems until his nomination by President Bush to become the civilian head of the Department of the Navy. He was elected to member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2002. He is currently Professor of Practice, Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of Michigan. In 2015, Winter was appointed to an expert advisory panel on Australia's
Future Submarine Program, overseeing the competitive evaluation of bidders. He was appointed chairman of Australia's Naval Shipbuilding Advisory Board by the
Turnbull government in 2016. In March 2021, it was reported that he was working as a special advisor to Prime Minister
Scott Morrison on shipbuilding. ==References==