Environmentally Friendly Vehicles Conference

Beth Lowery was appointed vice president, Environment and Energy, in October 2001. As GM's chief environmental officer, Lowery is responsible for GM's environmental and energy policies worldwide. She is also secretary to the Public Policy Committee of the GM Board of Directors and a member of the Public Policy Center global coordination team.

Prior to her current assignment, Lowery was GM North America vice president - general counsel and a member of the North America Strategy Board (NASB). In that position, she was responsible for managing the delivery of legal services that impact North America and providing legal advice to the NASB. From 1994 to 1997, Lowery was the practice area manager for the Environmental and Energy practice area of the GM Legal Staff, where she had responsibility for facility environmental matters, mobile emissions and energy initiatives on a global basis.

Lowery joined GM in 1989 as an attorney and was involved in the development and adoption of the GM Environmental Principles and the mutual endorsement of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) Principles.

She has been instrumental in shaping GM's environmental direction since she joined the company.

Lowery was born on October 24, 1955, in New Britain, Connecticut. She earned a juris doctorate, magna cum laude, from Wayne State University in 1981, where she was an editor of The Wayne Law Review. She earned a bachelor of business administration, cum laude, from Eastern Michigan University in 1978.

Before joining GM, Lowery was a partner in the Detroit law firm of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, specializing in environmental law. She was a law clerk for Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice G. Mennen Williams from 1981 to 1983. In 2002, she completed GM's Senior Executive Program (in partnership with Harvard Business School) and was chosen one of the 100 Most Influential Women by Crain's Detroit Business.

Lowery is chair of the board of directors for the World Environment Center, an independent, not-for-profit, non-advocacy organization. She also is a member of the board of directors for The Keystone Center, a public mediation and educational organization; and Haven, a non-profit organization that works to create violence-free homes and communities. In addition, she chairs the Women's Leadership Forum, which focuses on areas critical to leadership effectiveness, personal growth and advancement of women in the workplace. In 2004, Lowery was elected one of Detroit’s most enterprising women by the Detroit Historical Society and received the same distinction from Corp! magazine.

In September 2005, she was named one of 100 leading women of the automotive industry by Automotive News.