New sustainability officer appointed at Caterpillar

Caterpillar has appointed Dr Lou Balmer-Millar as Chief Sustainability Officer, added to her existing responsibilities as Senior Vice President of the Large Power Systems Division within Cat’s Energy and Transportation segment.

She will report directly to CEO and Chairman Jim Umpleby and succeeds Julie Lagacy, who was Caterpillar’s first Chief Sustainability & Strategy officer. Lagacy will retire on 1 February, 2023 after nearly 35 years at the company.

Dr Lou Balmer-Millar, Caterpillar’s new Chief Sustainability Officer. (Photo: Caterpillar)

Balmer-Millar has worked at Caterpillar for 20 years, holding technical and business positions of increasing seniority.

Before Cat, she led materials and chemical engineering research at the Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Balmer-Millar has a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

“Sustainability is an important focus area of our long-term strategy for profitable growth,” said Jim Umpleby.

“Building on her role in Caterpillar’s Energy & 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.”