Patricia K. “Patti” Poppe 

Patricia K. “Patti” Poppe graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial engineering in 1989 and 1991, respectively. She began her career at General Motors, rising to director of operations at the Grand River Assembly Plant. In 2005, Poppe moved to DTE Energy as director of enterprise performance excellence. Six years later, she joined Consumers Energy Company as vice president for customer experience and excellence. By 2015, Poppe had been promoted to senior vice president, overseeing distribution operations, engineering, and transmissions. The following year, she was appointed president and chief executive officer – titles she held until late 2020 when she became CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric Company, where she remains. Poppe has the distinction of being the first woman to serve as CEO of two Fortune 500 companies. Purdue honored her with a Distinguished Engineering Alumna Award in 2017 and named her an Old Master in 2019.