Tom Linebarger (Emeritus)

Chairman and CEO, Cummins
Tom Linebarger became Chairman and CEO of Cummins Inc., the largest independent maker of diesel engines and related products in the world, on January 1, 2012. Prior to becoming Chairman and CEO, he served as President and COO from 2008 to 2011, Executive Vice President and President, Power Generation Business from 2003 to 2008, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2000 to 2003, and Vice President, Supply Chain Management from 1998 to 2000.

Tom grew up in California and in 1986 received joint undergraduate degrees in management engineering from Claremont McKenna College and mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He later returned to Stanford University to earn an MS in manufacturing systems from the School of Engineering and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business in 1993.

Prior to joining Cummins, Tom was an investment analyst and investment manager at Prudential Investment Corporation where he lived in both Singapore and Hong Kong. While at Stanford, he worked at Cummins as an intern and spent his summer working on the manufacturing line at the Cummins Midrange Engine plant in Walesboro, Indiana. He liked the values, the people and the business challenges he found at Cummins and decided to join full time in February 1993.

Tom has been on the board of directors of Harley Davidson since 2008. He is also a board member of Energy Systems Network and a principal of the American Energy Innovation Council.

Along with his wife Michele, Tom is very much involved in the education and development of their two teenage daughters, Alex and Emily.

Consistently innovating in energy technology requires pairing top engineering talent with world-class research and development facilities and expertise. Public-private partnerships play an essential role. Well structured partnerships accelerate the development of new and improved technologies, including the clean engines and components built at Cummins.

For instance, Cummins currently is partnering with several private firms - including PACCAR Inc., Eaton Corporation and VanDyne SuperTurbo Inc. - and Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Purdue University - on a project under the Department of Energy’s SuperTruck program to significantly improve freight efficiency.

The SuperTruck program combines public and private expertise and resources to advance fuel efficiency technology for Class 8 tractor trailers. The goal is to make significant efficiency gains and provide real fossil-fuel savings by fostering innovative advances in diesel engines, cab and trailer aerodynamics and engine idle management. This will be accomplished through a comprehensive, system-based approach.

Cummins and its partners received a $39 million award from the DOE under this program and are matching these funds dollar for dollar - an example of how public resources attract private sector investment and participation. When the technologies developed under the project are fully deployed, the engine efficiency improvements alone are projected to reduce fuel consumption for on-road heavy trucks by over 20 percent. Over 5 years, the fleet would see a reduction of more than 73 million tons of CO2 - equivalent to converting 13 million passenger cars to zero emissions. This initiative demonstrates how DOE brings public and private entities together and incents them to deliver innovative technology results.

Government and the private sector successfully work together through such thoughtfully crafted public-private partnerships, and these initiatives should be expanded going forward.