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General Motors CEO Mary Barra To Also Chair Its Board Of Directors

The General Motors Board of Directors has announced that it has elected Mary Barra as its next Chairman. The decision, which is effective immediately and was voted on unanimously, will have Barra perform the CEO and Chairman (err… chairwoman?) roles. Barra has held the CEO post since January 15th, 2014.

Meanwhile, Tim Solso, who has been serving as the company’s chairman, will stay on as Lead Independent Director, thereby bringing an end to a non-executive chairman structure.

Tim Solso GM Chairman

Previous GM chairman Tim Solso will stay on as the board’s Lead Independent Director

“At a time of unprecedented industry change, the Board concluded it is in the best interests of the company to combine the roles of Chair and CEO in order to drive the most efficient execution of our plan and vision for the future,” said Solso. “With GM consistently delivering on its targets and on track to generate significant value for its shareholders, this is the right time for Mary to assume this role.”

Solso expressed that over the past two years, Barra has:

  • Set a clear vision for GM
  • Formed a strong leadership team from inside and outside the company
  • Delivered strong operating results, and
  • Led the introduction of breakthrough vehicles and technologies

“The Board has improved the overall governance of the company over the past two years and as Lead Independent Director, I expect to continue to build on this solid foundation,” Solso said. “The Board also plans to broaden its active engagement with shareholders as we go forward.”

“I am honored to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors,” said Barra. “With the support of our Board, we will continue to drive shareholder value by improving our core business and leading in the transformation of personal mobility.”

Prior to being named CEO in 2014, Barra served as executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing & Supply Chain since August 2013 and senior vice president, Global Product Development since February 2011. In both of these roles, she was responsible for the design, engineering, program management and quality of GM vehicles globally.

Prior to that, Barry served as:

  • GM vice president, Global Human Resources
  • Vice president, Global Manufacturing Engineering
  • Plant manager, Detroit Hamtramck Assembly
  • Executive director of Competitive Operations Engineering

And before that, she also held several engineering and staff positions.

In 1990, Barra graduated with an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business after receiving a GM fellowship in 1988. She began her career with GM in 1980 as a General Motors Institute (Kettering University) co-op student at the Pontiac Motor Division. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1985.

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Comments

  1. The gender-neutral word is chairPERSON.

    Reply
  2. I am not a fan of this decision even though i expected it. I do not think any publicly traded company should have both roles combined. Most of your Fortune 500 companies do not do it this way anymore and stay very successful. Why should a CEO have power over the Board.. GM has done really good while 2 positions were separated. However as soon as both were combined, the CEOs in charge helped the company bleed to death. I do not think the same will happen with Mary as she has shown her leadership quality and she has been an excellent CEO. Even with all that said I still think its a debatable situation.

    Reply
  3. Congrats Mary on a job well done!

    I was not a fan of Mary when she was named but with the major continued change of GM culture she has continued and under the stress of the media with the Ignition issues she was not distracted from any of the changes that were needed.

    She continues to make the needed changes and have for the most part neutralized the old GM guard that fought the change.

    Add to this the continued new products, platforms and added profits things are going in the right direction.

    GM has had more positive change since her arrival than we have seen in decades and from many other old school leaders. She has served the office well in some of the most difficult times.

    Imagine Roger Smith and what he would have done if he had been in charge during the ignition issue.

    Reply
  4. Well deserved promotion. She did a commendable job steering GM through the ignition switch fiasco. It came to a head shortly after she took over as CEO. Talk about sink or swim.

    Reply
  5. Most of America is clueless about her. That won’t last much longer.

    Reply

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