Cummins CEO to speak at Purdue on Indiana company's global sustainability efforts
April 21, 2014
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Tom Linebarger |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Cummins Inc. chairman and chief executive officer Tom Linebarger will outline the Indiana-based company's environmental sustainability plans for a cleaner, healthier and safer environment as part of a Purdue University lecture in May.
Linebarger, a 20-year executive who was selected as Cummins CEO and chairman in January 2012, will speak at 1:30 p.m. May 2 in the Deans Auditorium at Pfendler Hall. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is titled "Driving Global Success through Environmental Sustainability" and will include a question-and-answer session.
Purdue President Mitch Daniels will provide opening remarks, and political science professor Leigh Raymond, director of the Purdue Center for the Environment, will moderate the Q&A session with Linebarger.
"Cummins, the largest independent maker of diesel engines and related products in the world, is releasing its latest company-wide sustainability plan, designed to help this global company deliver on its mission to make everything it makes lead to a cleaner, healthier and safer environment," said Suresh Garimella, chief global affairs officer for Purdue and the Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
"This lecture focus and visit will highlight how Cummins has made improving the environment a key part of its business operations and a competitive business advantage for customers."
Those interested also are encouraged to join the conversation at #PurdueSustainableTalk via Twitter. To register for the free talk, go online to https://www.cco.purdue.edu/asp/Clinics/Clinics.asp?Action=Register&ID=176
Sponsors for the talk are the Purdue Center for the Environment, Office of Engagement, Office of Global Affairs, Office of Sustainability and Discovery Park.
Before being named Cummins' chairman and CEO, Linebarger served as president and chief operating officer of the Columbus, Ind.-based company from 2008-11. He previously was executive vice president and president of the Power Generation Business from 2003-08, vice president and chief financial officer from 2000-03, and vice president of Supply Chain Management from 1998-2000.
He received joint undergraduate degrees in economics from Claremont McKenna College and mechanical engineering from Stanford University in 1986. Linebarger later returned to Stanford to earn a master's degree in manufacturing systems from the School of Engineering and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business in 1993.
Prior to joining Cummins, he was an investment analyst and investment manager at Prudential Investment Corp., where he lived in both Singapore and Hong Kong. While at Stanford, he worked for Cummins as an intern and spent his summer working on the manufacturing line at the Cummins Midrange Engine plant in Walesboro, Ind.
Linebarger has served on the board of Harley-Davidson Motor Co. since 2008, is a board member of Energy Systems Network and a principal of the American Energy Innovation Council.
In late March, Cummins announced plans to build a division headquarters at the former site of Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis, providing the final development piece on the long-vacant property. The company has agreed to invest approximately $30 million to construct a global distribution business headquarters that can accommodate 400 employees.
Discovery Park, which is located on the southwestern edge of Purdue's West Lafayette campus, is a hub for interdisciplinary research and home to major centers focusing on everything from biosciences, energy, nanotechnology and drug discovery to cancer, the environment, health-care engineering and food security.
Media Contacts: Phillip Fiorini, Purdue University, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
Jon Mills, Cummins Inc. 317-658-4540, jon.mills@cummins.com
Source: Suresh Garimella, 765-494-9095, garimell@purdue.edu
