MIT's 2014 graduation ceremony will be addressed by DuPont CEO, Ellen Kullman.
Ellen Kullman, a mechanical engineering graduate from Tufts University (1978), joined DuPont in 1988 as a marketing manager, following stints at Westinghouse and General Electric. Over the years, she climbed the ranks, becoming the Group Vice President of DuPont Safety & Protection in 2002. In 2006, she was named DuPont's Executive Vice President, with responsibility for three business platforms and several functions, including marketing and sales.
However, Kullman truly made her mark when she became the Chair of the Board and CEO of DuPont in 2009, just before the financial crisis. Her leadership during this challenging period was exemplary. She developed crisis principles focused on adaptability and creating new trajectories for the company under extremely difficult circumstances. This approach required aligning DuPont’s scientific innovation and product development with the shifting needs of the global market, fostering a market-driven science model that could sustain the company's competitiveness despite economic turmoil.
Kullman's leadership style emphasised collaboration and flexibility, critical for development in the scientific and manufacturing sectors. Although specific details on collaborative projects during her tenure are not directly referenced, her general approach is supported by her later role at Carbon, where she applies similar principles of innovation and collaboration in manufacturing.
As CEO of a global chemical industry leader, Kullman had to navigate complex global challenges, including economic crises and industry disruptions. Her crisis-management experience and focus on flexible, market-aligned innovation strategies positioned DuPont to respond to global economic and environmental dynamics effectively.
Kullman is recognised as one of the prominent CEOs leading major global corporations, indicating her broad influence and achievement in her role at DuPont. She is also noted for her pioneering leadership as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry, influencing corporate culture and leadership diversity.
DuPont, founded in 1802, serves a wide range of markets including agriculture, food, electronics, solar energy, construction, and transportation. The company is the manufacturer of many household-name products. In addition, DuPont has a longstanding reputation for applying science to solve global challenges.
Under Kullman's leadership, DuPont introduces thousands of new products and patent applications every year. Notably, Kullman co-chairs the National Academy of Engineering’s Committee on Changing the Conversation: From Research to Action, advocating for market-driven science as a means of driving innovation.
Kullman is also the chair of the U.S.-China Business Council and serves on the boards of Tufts University and its School of Engineering, the Business Council, the executive committee of SCI-America, and the board of directors for Change the Equation, a coalition of more than 100 CEOs committed to improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning for pre K-12 students in the U.S.
In summary, Ellen Kullman’s tenure as CEO of DuPont is marked by her adept crisis leadership, which involved fostering market-driven scientific innovation and collaborative approaches to development, all while positioning the company to meet global economic and technological challenges effectively.
- Ellen Kullman, a mechanical engineering graduate from Tufts University, demonstrated exemplary leadership as the Chair of Board and CEO of DuPont, especially during the financial crisis.
- Kullman's approach at DuPont involved aligning scientific innovation and product development with the shifting needs of the global market, fostering a market-driven science model.
- Her leadership style emphasized collaboration and flexibility, critical for development in the scientific and manufacturing sectors.
- As CEO of a global chemical industry leader, Kullman navigated complex global challenges, including economic crises and industry disruptions.
- DuPont, under Kullman's leadership, introduced thousands of new products and patent applications every year.
- Kullman co-chairs the National Academy of Engineering’s Committee on Changing the Conversation: From Research to Action, advocating for market-driven science as a means of driving innovation.
- Kullman serves on the boards of Tufts University and its School of Engineering, promoting education-and-self-development, particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
- As the chair of the U.S.-China Business Council, Kullman demonstrates her influence on public policy and international business relations, contributing to the development of the global environment and transportation sectors.
