Caterpillar turning to company veteran for sustainability leadership

Balmer-Millar

Lou Balmer-Millar will assume responsibility as chief sustainability officer at Caterpillar, a role she will handle in addition to her duties as senior vice president of the large power systems division within Cat’s energy and transportation segment.

Balmer-Millar succeeds Julie Lagacy, who was Caterpillar’s first chief sustainability and strategy officer. Lagacy is retiring Feb. 1 after nearly 35 years of service to Cat.

Balmer-Millar will report directly to Cat chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby in her capacity as chief sustainability officer.

“Sustainability is an important focus area of our long-term strategy for profitable growth,” Umpleby says. “Building on her role in Caterpillar’s energy and transportation segment, this move further enhances the advancement of product solutions to support our customers during the energy transition and help them achieve their climate-related objectives by geography, by application and by specific customer need. We remain committed to helping our customers build a better, more sustainable world.”

According to Caterpillar, Balmer-Millar has held several technical and business leadership positions of increased scope and responsibility over her 20-year career. Before joining Caterpillar, she led materials and chemical engineering research efforts at the environmental molecular science laboratory of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.