DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman Named Drexel's 2015 Engineering Leader of the Year

Ellen Cullman, chair of the Board and CEO of DuPont, will be recognized as Drexel's 2015 Engineering Leader of the Year in February.

Drexel University’s College of Engineering will honor Ellen Kullman, chair of the Board and CEO of DuPont, as its 2015 Engineering Leader of the Year. Kullman, who will be recognized at a ceremony on Feb. 23, will join an esteemed group of engineering trailblazers who have received the award. 

“We are excited to present Ellen Kullman with the Engineering Leader of the Year award,” said Joseph B. Hughes, PhD, dean of Drexel’s College of Engineering. “Under her leadership, DuPont has transitioned to focus on some of the most forward-thinking initiatives facing engineers and scientists today. She is an inspiration, particularly for students who will face the challenges of the 21st century.” 

Kullman has been chair of the board of directors and chief executive officer of DuPont since 2009.  She was named CEO on Jan. 1 and board chair on Dec. 31, 2009. She is the 19th executive to lead the company since DuPont was founded in 1802.

A native of Wilmington, Delaware, Kullman has championed the power of DuPont science and global market knowledge to transform industries. Under her leadership, she has decisively positioned the company for its next generation of growth. 

Prior to being appointed chair of the board and chief executive officer, she served as president, executive vice president and a member of the company’s office of the chief executive. Kullman has led the company’s focus on growth in emerging international markets, led double-digit growth of the company’s Safety & Protection business portfolio, started-up two successful high-growth businesses and run several industrial businesses. Kullman began her career at DuPont in 1988 as a marketing manager for the DuPont medical imaging business. Prior to joining DuPont, she worked for Westinghouse and General Electric.

Kullman also is a board director of United Technologies Corp, chair of the U.S. China Business Council and member of the U.S. India Business Council.  She is executive committee member of the Business Council and board member of Catalyst, Inc. She is a board member of Change the Equation (CTEq), a national coalition of more than 100 CEOs committed to improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning (STEM) for U.S. pre-kindergarten to grade 12 students. Kullman is on the board of trustees of Tufts University and the board of overseers for Tufts School of Engineering.

Kullman has been named as one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" by Fortune and one of the 50 "World’s Most Powerful Women" by Forbes. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Tufts University and a Master of Science in management from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In 2011 she received an honorary Doctor of Engineering from Lehigh University followed by Doctors in Science from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Delaware in consecutive years.

Drexel has been honoring leaders in the field of engineering with this prestigious recognition since 2003. The award is presented to an individual who demonstrates leadership in the development of technology-based solutions to societal problems, and serves as an example of outstanding achievement for current and future generations of engineers. Kullman joins a distinguished list of individuals that includes Jim Albaugh, former president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes; Norman R. Augustine, former president and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation; the late Charles Vest, president of NAE, president emeritus of MIT and former member of the DuPont board of directors; Dean Kamen, inventor of the iBot wheelchair and Segway and founder of FIRST; Mark Adler, Mars mission manager from NASA and others.