James A. Bell

Early life

On June 4, 1948, Bell was born in Los Angeles, California. Bell was the youngest of four children. Bell's mother Mamie was a former Los Angeles County government clerk. His father died in 2003.

Education

In 1971, Bell earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from California State University, Los Angeles.

A partial scholarship helped pay for his first year of college, but he had to earn enough to pay his way through the remainder of school.

In 1972 he joined the Rockwell company as an accountant. At that company he followed a path into management, from corporate senior internal auditor to accounting manager and finally as manager of general and cost accounting. He joined Boeing in 1996 when Rockwell's aerospace and defense units were acquired.

Within Boeing, he has held positions as vice president of contracts and pricing for the company's Space and Communications Division. He later became senior vice president of finance and corporate controller. In November 2004 he became the company's chief financial officer, following the firing of Michael M. Sears due to a government contract scandal. He is a member of the board of directors of J. P. Morgan Chase, Dow Chemical Company, the Chicago Urban League, World Business Chicago, the Chicago Economic Club, New Leaders for New Schools and Apple Inc.

Bell retired from the Boeing Company effective April 1, 2012. On February 1, 2012, Greg Smith succeeded Bell as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Boeing Company.