Colvin To Retire; Burns To Take More Active Role In Fuel Cells
DETROIT -- Frank Colvin, vice president of General Motors' fuel cell activities, will retire after 38 years with General Motors Corp., effective Feb. 1, 2003, and Larry Burns, GM vice president of research and development and planning, will assume an even more active role in the management of GM's fuel cell activities.
Byron McCormick, currently executive director of GM fuel cell activities, will assume Colvin's responsibilities and report directly to Burns.
Colvin, 60, started with GM as a power systems project engineer at Buick in 1965. He has been a GM vice president since 1997, first as the vice president and group director for GM's Midsize and Luxury Car Group before being named vice president and group director of GM's North American Car Group. In the latter position, he is credited with beginning one of the most extensive global engineering integration efforts in GM history. Later, as the vice president of GM Europe engineering, Colvin helped establish and grow fuel cell activities within GM.
A native of Indianapolis, Colvin has an electrical engineering degree from Purdue University and a master's degree in business administration from Stanford University, where he was a Sloan Fellow.
Julie Beamer, formerly director of GM business planning and support, has been appointed director, fuel cell activities, reporting to McCormick. In her previous role, Beamer served as secretary to GM's North American Strategy Board.
Erhard Schubert will move from his current role as director of fuel cell activities, Mainz-Kastel, to become the director of technology integration for GM Europe. In his new position he will direct GM relations with EUCAR, a cooperative research and development program between European car companies. EUCAR is a sister program to the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), a partnership arrangement between GM, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler. In this role, Schubert will serve as the liaison with European energy and environmental activities. He will report directly to Larry Burns and Hans Demant, vice president of GM Europe engineering.
Udo Winter will assume Schubert's previous duties of managing a 200 person fuel cell integration team in Mainz-Kastel, Germany (outside Frankfurt) and will report to McCormick.
General Motors , the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, designs, builds and markets cars and trucks worldwide, and has been the global automotive sales leader since 1931. GM employs about 355,000 people around the world. More GM information can be found at www.gm.com.
