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Thomas A. Burke

President and CEO
Modine Manufacturing Co.
BSABE ’79

For his contributions to the development of energy-efficiency technologies and improved operational effectiveness in the vehicular component and systems industry

Influenced by his father’s agricultural equipment business, Tom Burke knew he wanted to pursue a career related to agricultural engineering, and that interest further solidified with high school jobs in the agriculture industry.

Burke earned a BS in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue and went on to take a job as a product design engineer for John Deere’s Forestry Product Group. “This was a great opportunity to directly apply the engineering knowledge I gained from the Ag Engineering program,” he says. Then in 1983, Burke received an opportunity to join Ford Motor Company as a manufacturing engineer.

“At the time, there was a heavy emphasis on bringing in engineering resources to improve manufacturing capability in the automotive industry,” he explains. “I quickly became personally engaged with the challenges and opportunities of working in the fast-paced manufacturing environment. Working as part of a team to improve all elements of automotive manufacturing processes, including quality and productivity, was very rewarding.”

Burke went on to lead several teams in projects related to vehicular HVAC systems, then moved on to Visteon and eventually to his current employer, Modine Manufacturing Co.

“Since coming to Modine, I have had the opportunity to become involved in the commercial truck, off-highway, and building HVAC industries,” he says. “There is a tremendous incentive to improve efficiency and reduce emissions in all industries. Energy efficiency and emission reduction is clearly one of the top challenges, and correspondingly one of the top opportunities, driving our business at Modine. We are focused on enabling our customers to accelerate the viability of new alternative energy and emission technologies such as exhaust gas recirculation, waste heat recovery, and fuel cell-related thermal solutions.”

Burke’s global manufacturing experience has included implementation of “lean” operating systems at more than 100 worldwide facilities. His work experience also includes leadership roles in research and development, application engineering, program management, and sales and marketing. His latest focus has been leading a global initiative to enhance Modine’s operational and financial performance to overcome the challenges of the recent global economic crisis. He continues to foster and mentor a culture of continuous improvement at the company.

“There is so much to learn,” he says. “I am fortunate to have worked for excellent leaders and with great colleagues at Ford, Visteon, and now Modine, all of whom share a passion for manufacturing and learning how to improve and sustain ongoing effectiveness across operations and the full business enterprise.”

Career Highlights

Current President/CEO, Modine Manufacturing Co.
2007–2008 Executive Vice President/ Chief Operations Officer, Modine Manufacturing Co.
2005–2007 Executive Vice President, Modine Manufacturing Co.
2003–2005 Vice President, North American Operations, Visteon Corp.
2001–2003 Vice President, European and South American Operations, Visteon Corp.
1999–2001 Chief Engineer — Ford Account, Visteon Corp.
1997–1999 Engineering Director — Climate Control Systems, Europe, South America, and India, Visteon Corp.
1994–1997 Plant Manager, Ford Motor Company
1991–1994 Mexico Operations Manager, Ford Motor Company
1990–1991 Program Manager, Ford Motor Company
1983–1990 Area Manufacturing Manager, Ford Motor Company
1980–1983 Product Design Engineer, John Deere Corp.
1979 BSABE, Purdue University