Bethel Named To Lead Boeing Sales Team

Nancy Bethel has been placed in charge of commercial airplane sales at the Boeing Co. to become the highest-ranking woman executive at the No. 1 maker of passenger jets.

Bethel succeeds Dick Albrecht, who retired Friday as executive vice president at Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. She had been working with Albrecht on the transition since January.

She became a member of the office of the president, a group of senior executives, and is in charge of commercial airplane sales and support, Boeing said Wednesday.

Bethel, 43, a native of Bluefield, W.Va., joined Boeing in 1978 after earning a master’s degree in industrial engineering and operations research at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.