ArvinMeritor's Vernon Baker Receives the Minority Corporate Council Association's 2003 Trailblazer Award
TROY, Mich., June 26 -- ArvinMeritor, Inc. today announced that Vernon Baker, senior vice president and general counsel, has received the Minority Corporate Counsel Association's (MCCA) 2003 Trailblazer Award. The award, presented at ceremonies June 25 in Washington, D.C., recognizes the outstanding achievements of minority in-house counsels who also stand as role models in the legal profession. Baker was also honored for his contributions as a mentor to countless young lawyers through various organizations and professional affiliations.
"Vernon is a role model for contemporary leadership," said Larry Yost, ArvinMeritor's chairman and chief executive officer. "He is instrumental in putting the power of diversity to work in our organization by celebrating the uniqueness of every individual."
ArvinMeritor's diversity efforts are based on the understanding that creative power comes from bringing knowledgeable people with dissimilar perspectives together. To that end and among his many other accomplishments, Baker serves in a leadership role within the company's Global Diversity Council. Charged with driving the move toward being a more inclusive organization, the Council helps to promote a culture that provides opportunities for employees throughout the organization to maximize their personal and professional potential.
In addition to his overall legal responsibilities, Baker directs the company's corporate governance; acquisitions and divestitures; litigation; business standards compliance; regulatory compliance; and intellectual property. He also has functional oversight for the environmental, health and safety areas of the organization. Before joining ArvinMeritor in 1999, Baker spent 17 years at Hoechst Celanese Corp. as vice president and general counsel, Corporate Research and Technology. A Dartmouth College graduate with a juris doctorate from American University, Washington College of Law, in Washington, D.C., he began his professional career in 1978 as an associate with the law firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal and Lewis.
Founded in 1997, the MCCA advocates the expanded hiring, retention and promotion of minority attorneys in corporate law departments and the law firms that serve them. The Washington, D.C.-based association accomplishes this mission through the collection and dissemination of information about diversity in the legal profession.
ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a premier $7-billion global supplier of a broad range of integrated systems, modules and components to the motor vehicle industry. The company serves light vehicle, commercial truck, trailer and specialty original equipment manufacturers and related aftermarkets. In addition, ArvinMeritor is a leader in coil coating applications. The company is headquartered in Troy, Mich., and employs 32,000 people at more than 150 manufacturing facilities in 27 countries. ArvinMeritor common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ARM. For more information, visit the company's Web site at: www.arvinmeritor.com .
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