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GM'S Walkowicz Rejoins USCAR as Executive Director

16 December 1998

GM'S Walkowicz Rejoins USCAR as Executive Director for 1999-2000

    SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Dec. 16 -- Don Walkowicz of General Motors
has been appointed as the next executive director of the United
States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), succeeding Elizabeth
Brueckner, who returns to DaimlerChrysler when her two-year term ends on
December 31.  Walkowicz was the first executive director of USCAR, serving
from its formation, in June 1992, through 1994.  He returns for a two-year
tenure.
    USCAR is an umbrella organization that coordinates collaborative and
pre-competitive research projects for DaimlerChrysler, Ford and GM, including
the industry-government Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV).
    Walkowicz has been director of Technology Leveraging and Planning at the
GM Research & Development Center since November 1995.  This group is
responsible for GM's global research and development relations with suppliers,
government agencies and universities.  The group also was responsible for
coordinating the GM Research and Development Center's portfolio of R&D
projects.  He also directed the Information Science and Infrastructure
department at the R&D Center, which is responsible for GM's consolidated
information center and libraries.
    Prior to November of 1995, he was director of Business Partnership
Planning and Integration at the GM Research & Development Center.
    Walkowicz served from June 1992 through 1994 as the founding executive
director of the then-new USCAR organization, where he directed its creation
and oversaw the growth of Chrysler, Ford and GM cooperative research and
development.  The historic USCAR/federal government PNGV was negotiated during
his tenure.
    From December 1987 until May 1992, Walkowicz was with GM's Technical
Staffs Group, first as manager of the group's technology planning process and
then as manager of technology and business planning.
    Previously, Walkowicz was a staff engineer on GM's Advanced Engineering
Staff and Engineer-In-Charge of Administrative Services on the former GM
Engineering Staff.
    Walkowicz began his General Motors career as a General Motors Institute
(GMI) cooperative student in 1960.  He received a bachelor's degree in
mechanical engineering from GMI in 1965.  He earned an MBA degree through
Michigan State University's Advanced Management Program in 1976.
    A native of Detroit, Walkowicz was born on June 27, 1943.  He and his
wife, Keran, live in Washington Township, Mich.  They have three grown
children.
    Walkowicz is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, the
Engineering Society of Detroit, the International Association for the
Management of Technology and also has served on numerous other technology
management boards and advisory committees.
    USCAR research and development deals with safety, emissions, alternative
power sources, lightweight materials, electrical components, recycling, and
-- under its PNGV effort with the government, suppliers and universities --
technologies that can lead to more fuel efficient vehicles.  For more
information, please visit our Web site at http://www.uscar.org.