Neal Blue

James Neal Blue (born 1935) is an American businessman who is chairman and chief executive officer of General Atomics, the San Diego defense and diversified technology company. Born in Meeker, Colorado, the son of James Elliot Blue and Virginia Neal Blue, he attended Yale University, where he took part in the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps. In the 1970s he and his brother Linden Blue owned the Colorado and Western Properties firm in Colorado, and he later joined the board of Great Western United. In 1986 the two brothers acquired General Atomics from Chevron, reportedly for 60 million dollars, and Blue serves as its chairman and chief executive officer. He received the International von Karman Wings Award in 2013 and the John R. Alison Award in 2023.