Vice Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Tom Stephens of General Motors has chosen to retire starting this April first. He has been working with the company for forty three years now.
Vice Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Tom Stephens of General Motors has chosen to retire starting this April first. He has been working with the company for forty three years now. He was the leader of General Motors’ global powertain and product development organizations and the company is sad to see him go.
Stephens’ work as the Chief Technology Officer has been phenomenally advantageous to the company as a whole. The advancements created under his leadership are game-changing technologies for integration into future GM vehicles. In his career Stephens also focused on building relationships with both internal as well as external technology partners. He had achieved the role of Vice Chairman of Global Product Operations in April of 2009 and served through February 2011. Before he had been Group Vice President of Global Powertrain from July 2001 to March 2008, at which point he was promoted to Executive Vice President of Global Powertrain and Global Quality.
Stephens began working for the company way back in 1969. He got his start working as an hourly employee at the Chevrolet Engineering Center in Warren, Michigan. He started here as part of a student co-op program at the University of Michigan. He worked his way through the company, being promoted to several different engineering positions in the Cadillac Motor Car Division at GM and then being further promoted to a series of engineering leadership positions with the Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac Division. Finally he achieved the promotion where he was able to lead the GM Powertrain Division.
“Tom Stephens is an engineering icon within our company and within our industry,” said GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson. “We have all benefited greatly from his passion, wisdom, and commitment to product excellence. His talent and contributions to GM are deeply appreciated and his expertise will be missed.”
Throughout Stephens’ career he oversaw the production of many excellent technologies that are still in use today. His key highlights include the production of the Northstar engine, GM’s premier dual overhead performance engine. The Northstar engine has won numerous industry and engine awards. Stephens’ also led the creation of GM’s advanced propulsion technology strategy. This development was a key factor in the creation of many of the company’s advanced engine technologies and hybrid vehicles.
Stephens’ work for GM has been remarkable. He led the globalization of powertrain engineering and leveraged global centers of expertise to speed engine development. He also increased the quality and efficiency of GM vehicles by working toward the use of computational tools and common GM engineering and product development processes.
But now that Stephens is retiring we will have to hope that his successor will be able to bring the same level of expertise and innovation to GM. No word has yet been released naming his successor, but GM hopes to make this announcement as soon as possible. In his retirement Stephens is at least not planning to completely leave the world of GM. He will continue to serve on the board of directors for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Foundation as well as the board of trustees with the Detroit Science Center. He is a member of the Engineering Advisory Council for the University of Michigan School of Engineering. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2007 for his contributions to powertrain engineering, and he will continue to serve as an example of excellence in automotive engineering and a role model for future GM engineers.
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