Caterpillar Announces Executive Office Retirements and Appointments

PEORIA, Ill., Oct. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a combined 65 years of outstanding service and contributions to the company, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) announced today that Group Presidents Rich Lavin and Gerard Vittecoq have elected to retire. Lavin is a Caterpillar group president with responsibility for Construction Industries & Growth Markets. Vittecoq is a group president with responsibility for Energy & Power Systems. The company also announced that Caterpillar's Board of Directors has appointed current Group President and CFO Ed Rapp as Lavin's replacement. Brad Halverson will replace Rapp as a group president and CFO and Jim Umpleby has been appointed to replace Vittecoq as group president for Energy & Power Systems.

"We will be saying goodbye to fantastic leaders with these retirements, but we have a deep and talented group of Caterpillar executives," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman. "I am confident our new leaders will build on the work of their predecessors as we move toward our 2015 goals and beyond."

Lavin joined Caterpillar in 1984 as an attorney in what is now the Law and Public Policy Division. He was appointed to Caterpillar's executive office in 2007 and moved to Hong Kong, where he was the first Caterpillar executive officer to reside and work in Asia. Lavin's work in this role has had a significant impact on enhancing the company's brand and reputation in this region. Before becoming a group president, he was vice president of manufacturing operations for the Asia Pacific Division, serving as chairman of Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi Ltd. (SCM)—now Caterpillar Japan Ltd. (CJL)—and chairman of Caterpillar (China) Investment Co., Ltd. Lavin was named a Caterpillar vice president in 2001, serving as Human Services Division vice president until 2004 when he was named vice president with responsibility for Caterpillar's Asia Pacific Manufacturing Operations. During his career, Lavin held senior executive and leadership positions in Hong Kong; Beijing, China; Bangalore, India and Tokyo, Japan. Previously, he was product manager in the Track-Type Tractors Division, director of corporate human relations and director of compensation and benefits.

Lavin has a bachelor's degree from Western Illinois University and law degrees from Creighton University and Georgetown University. He also completed a Brookings Institute management program and a Carnegie Mellon executive development program. In November 2009, he was appointed to the board of directors of USG Corporation, a leading building products company. He is also a member of the board of directors of the U.S. China Business Council, U.S. India Business Council and the U.S. Korea Business Council. He is a member of The Conference Board and The Chicago Council of Global Affairs. He serves on the International Advisory Council of Guanghua School of Management at Peking University and the Board of Trustees at Bradley University. In 2010, he was appointed to serve on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC), which provides private sector input to the leaders of 21 economies comprising the APEC.

Gerard Vittecoq Retirement
"Over the course of his more than 37 years with Caterpillar, Gerard has built a reputation for mentoring and developing leaders from his home base in Geneva, Switzerland," Oberhelman said. "Gerard was instrumental in providing executive leadership as we focused on improving product quality and a culture of safety by driving the integration of the Caterpillar Production System around the world. More recently, his leadership and guidance has been critical, as Caterpillar has significantly expanded its energy and power systems business with the key acquisitions of Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) and gas engine manufacturing MWM Holding GmbH (MWM). These acquisitions have expanded Caterpillar's strategic businesses, and Gerard will be remembered for the leadership he provided as these businesses were added to Caterpillar," Oberhelman added.

Vittecoq was appointed to Caterpillar's executive office in 2003. He joined Caterpillar in 1975, holding various accounting and finance positions during his first six years with the company. In 1982, he was appointed finance representative and later assistant manager at Caterpillar Overseas S.A. (COSA). In 1985, he became comptroller for COSA. Vittecoq was appointed director of COSA strategy and planning in 1990. In 1995, he was promoted to managing director of Caterpillar France S.A. In 1998, Vittecoq became managing director of Caterpillar Belgium S.A. In 2001, he was appointed vice president with administrative responsibility for the Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME) Operations Division.

Vittecoq has a master's degree from Ecole Superieure of Commerce (France) and a master's degree in business administration from Laval University (Canada). He is a certified public accountant (CPA), and he completed the executive program in international management at Columbia University. Vittecoq is a member of the Foundation Board of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), a member of the Evian Group: Free Trade Think Tank, executive member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), member of the senior advisory council of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce and a director of Best Buy—a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services.

"As we weighed the complexity of this role across the range of products and geographies and looked at the critical areas of responsibility for this position, it was clear that Ed was the best person for this position," Oberhelman said. "Ed brings proven executive-level leadership and demonstrated success to this position.He will provide focus and strategic vision as we work toward our market leadership goals for China and other key growth markets."

Rapp has been a member of Caterpillar's executive office since 2007. He was named a Caterpillar vice president in 2000, serving as the head of the EAME Marketing Division until 2004 when he was named vice president with responsibility for the Building Construction Products Division. 

Rapp joined Caterpillar as a pricing analyst in 1979. Over the next several years, he held positions with increasing responsibility related to pricing, production scheduling, marketing, dealer development, manufacturing and product development. In the 1990s, he held positions as a district manager in San Francisco, the area manager in Johannesburg, South Africa, and then held several senior positions in Geneva, Switzerland, before being named a vice president with responsibility for EAME Marketing in 2000.

Rapp has a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Missouri-Columbia and is a graduate of the University of Illinois Executive Development program.

He is a member of the board of directors of FMGlobal and Junior Achievement USA. Rapp is also a member of the University of Missouri College of Business Strategic Development Board.

"During his 25 year career, Brad has built substantial deep expertise within our accounting and finance operations, working in positions of increasing responsibility in multiple business units in the United States and in Europe," Oberhelman said. "In addition, Brad has held a number of accounting and finance roles at the corporate level that have helped to drive standard work and process improvements across this critical service business for our company. He has played an important role in our most recent strategic planning initiatives, providing key leadership to develop our metrics and plan for delivering total shareholder return. Together, this deep business unit and corporate experience in the field gives him an ideal perspective and background for the CFO role within our executive office," Oberhelman added.

Halverson was named a vice president in 2010. He has had a variety of experiences of increasing responsibilities at Caterpillar. After auditing and tax experience with Price Waterhouse, he joined the company in 1988 as an accountant. In 1993, he moved to Geneva, Switzerland, as a strategy and planning consultant with Caterpillar Overseas S.A. He went on to become controller in Europe, responsible for Caterpillar's financial reporting in EAME and returned to the United States in 1996 to manage general accounting and financial systems. From 1998 until 2002, Halverson provided financial leadership as a business resources manager in Caterpillar's Engine Division and was named director of corporate business development before becoming corporate controller in December 2004.

Halverson graduated with a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1982, and earned an Executive MBA in 1996, both from the University of Illinois. He is a certified public accountant and member of the American Institute of CPAs. He serves on the OSF St. Francis Medical Center Community Advisory Board and is vice chairman of the Illinois Easter Seals Affiliate Board. Halverson's replacement will be named in the near future. Halverson will assume his new role effective January 1, 2013.

"With more than 30 years of leadership experience with Solar Turbines and Caterpillar, Jim brings extensive knowledge and understanding of the global energy and power systems industry to our executive office," Oberhelman said. "Jim understands the highly complex and global nature of the customers we serve in the energy, rail and power industries. As the leader of our Solar Turbines business, he has demonstrated results in a global business, serving customers in the oil and gas and power generation industries. Jim's deep expertise in these industries and his demonstrated success as the vice president for Solar Turbines make him an ideal leader for our Energy & Power Systems group," Oberhelman said.

Umpleby was named a Caterpillar vice president and the president of Solar Turbines in 2010. During his career with Solar, he has worked around the world in positions with increasing responsibilities in engineering, manufacturing, sales and customer services.

Umpleby joined Solar Turbines in 1980 as an associate engineer. Over the course of the next decade with Solar, he held a number of engineering and sales positions including assignments in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 1994, he became the director of power systems operations and facility manager of Solar's Kearny Mesa gas turbine packaging facility. In 1997, he became a Solar vice president with responsibility for customer services and in 2000 was named Solar vice president for Turbomachinery Products. In 2005, Umpleby assumed responsibilities as a general manager for global services for Caterpillar, a Peoria-based assignment in Caterpillar's Product Support Division. He was named Solar's vice president for oil and gas in 2007.

Umpleby graduated from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1980. He completed an executive leadership program at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1996. Umpleby serves on the board of directors for the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation and CONNECT. He is also an executive committee member of the board of directors of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) Foundation. A replacement for Umpleby will be named in the near future. Umpleby will assume his new role effective January 1, 2013.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release relate to future events and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries and markets we serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies and infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity or component price increases and/or limited availability of raw materials and component products, including steel; (iv) our and our customers', dealers' and suppliers' ability to access and manage liquidity; (v) political and economic risks and instability, including national or international conflicts and civil unrest; (vi) our and Cat Financial's ability to: maintain credit ratings, avoid material increases in borrowing costs, and access capital markets; (vii) the financial condition and credit worthiness of Cat Financial's customers; (viii) inability to realize expected benefits from acquisitions and divestitures, including the acquisition of Bucyrus International, Inc.; (ix) international trade and investment policies; (x) challenges related to Tier 4 emissions compliance; (xi) market acceptance of our products and services; (xii) changes in the competitive environment, including market share, pricing and geographic and product mix of sales; (xiii) successful implementation of capacity expansion projects, cost reduction initiatives and efficiency or productivity initiatives, including the Caterpillar Production System; (xiv) sourcing practices of our dealers or original equipment manufacturers; (xv) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (xvi) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xvii) additional tax expense or exposure; (xviii) currency fluctuations; (xix) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial covenants; (xx) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxi) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xxii) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or investigations; (xxiii) compliance requirements imposed if carbon emissions legislation and/or regulations are adopted; (xxiv) changes in accounting standards; (xxv) failure or breach of IT security; (xxvi) adverse effects of natural disasters; and (xxvii) other factors described in more detail under "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 21, 2012 for the year ended December 31, 2011. This filing is available on our website at www.caterpillar.com/secfilings.

SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.