There’s a powerful new player headed to the corporate board of directors for Whirlpool Corporation, and she won’t have to travel far to get to upcoming board meetings and functions.
Joining the Whirlpool Corporate Board of Directors on December 16th is Patti Poppe, President & Chief Executive Officer of CMS Energy Corporation, headquartered in Jackson, Michigan. She was appointed today by the Whirlpool board and comes aboard in December.
The 50-year old utility leader is also President & CEO of Consumers Energy Company, the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy Corporation. Poppe had previously served as senior vice president of distribution operations, engineering and transmission, responsible for engineering, maintenance, and operations of the company’s electric and natural gas delivery systems. Prior to that, Poppe served as vice president of customer experience, rates and regulation. She joined Consumers Energy in January 2011 as vice president of customer operations.
Previously, Poppe served as a Power Plant Director at DTE Energy, and prior to joining DTE Energy, she held a variety of plant management positions in the automotive industry.
Poppe serves on executive boards for the Edison Electric Institute, Business Leaders for Michigan, and the American Gas Association. Poppe earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in industrial engineering from Purdue University, and a second Master’s degree in management from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Whirlpool Chairman & CEO Marc Bitzer says, “We are fortunate to welcome Patti as a member of the Whirlpool board of directors,” and adds, “Given her extensive leadership experience in consumer-facing industries and environmental stewardship, she will bring a valuable perspective to our board as it continues a tradition of strong governance and oversight within our company. We expect her breadth of experience will be extremely useful to our board of directors and Whirlpool Corporation.”
For her part, Poppe says, “I could not be more pleased to join Whirlpool’s Board of Directors. I look forward to learning and living out our shared values while working with other board members to provide key insight into Whirlpool’s strategic vision.”
