Caterpillar announces 2 new board members

Caterpillar Inc. has announced that Judith Marks, chair, CEO and president of Otis Worldwide Corp., and James Fish, Jr., president and CEO of WM, have been appointed to the Caterpillar board of directors, effective March 1.

A director since 2003 at the Irving, Texas, construction and mining equipment manufacturer, Ed Rust will not stand for re-election. He is the retired chairman and CEO of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., Bloomington, Illinois.

Marks will serve on Caterpillar’s Audit Committee and Compensation and Human Resources Committee. Fish will serve on Caterpillar’s Audit Committee and Sustainability & Other Public Policy Committee.

“We are pleased to welcome leaders of such high caliber to our board,” Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby says. “With Judy’s leadership of services growth and digital transformation at Otis, and Jim’s leadership in developing sustainable solutions that support the transition to a lower-carbon economy, Caterpillar is well positioned to help our customers build a better, more sustainable world and deliver long-term profitable growth.”

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Marks, 59, has led Farmington, Connecticut-based Otis, the world’s leading company for elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation and service, as president since 2017 and was named CEO in 2019. She has served as a director of Otis since 2020 and was appointed as chair in 2022.

In April 2020, Marks led the successful transition of Otis to an independent, publicly traded company. Additionally, Marks prioritized and advanced Otis’ sustainability program by embedding it into the company strategy as a key element to drive added value for all stakeholders. Prior to joining Otis, she held senior leadership roles at Germany-based Siemens AG; Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, Maryland; and IBM, Armonk, New York. In addition to serving on the Otis board, Marks is on the New Haven, Connecticut-based AdvanceCT board and is a member of its Business Roundtable and chair of its Trade and International Committee.

Fish, 60, has served as president, CEO and a member of the board of Houston-based WM, North America’s largest comprehensive waste management environmental solutions provider, since 2016. Since assuming the role of CEO, Fish has shifted the company’s sustainability strategy to focus on minimizing its environmental impact by reducing carbon emissions, investing in differentiated innovative technologies and automation and expanding recycling and renewable energy infrastructure to help customers achieve their sustainability goals.

Prior to this role, he served as the company’s chief finance officer beginning in 2012 and held several other key leadership positions since joining the company in 2001. Before his career at WM, Fish held multiple senior leadership positions at Spartanburg, South Carolina-based Westex, Fort Worth, Texas-based Trans World Airlines and America West Airlines, Tempe, Arizona. He began his professional career at Netherlands-based KPMG Peat Marwick.

Rust, 72, served as Caterpillar’s presiding director and chaired its Public Policy and Governance Committee.

“On behalf of the entire board, I want to thank Ed for his leadership and guidance over the past 20 years,” Umpleby says. “Ed’s extensive business experience was of extreme value to our team.”

Following the 2023 annual shareholder meeting, the Caterpillar board will be comprised of 11 directors, 10 of whom are independent.