University Park, Pa. — Penn State Smeal College of Business alumna Patricia Woertz '74, president, chief executive officer and chair of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), led the agribusiness firm to a 45 percent stock gain in 2007, the best performance among the 12 Fortune 500 companies led by female CEOs, according to USA Today.
This is just the latest honor for Woertz, who took over ADM in May 2006. Fortune magazine recently ranked her as the sixth most powerful woman in business, her ninth straight appearance on the annual list.
"It's a not a great surprise to hear that Pat is the top female CEO in the country," remarked Smeal Dean James B. Thomas. "She has showed a tremendous drive and devotion to doing business right throughout her entire career. Her success is a shining example of what women can accomplish in business, and she is an outstanding role model for all of our students at Smeal — men and women alike. We've never been more proud to call Pat one of our own."
Smeal honored Woertz as a distinguished alumna in 2005 and the Penn State Alumni Association named her an Alumni Fellow in 2002. She has remained active in the college and University since earning her bachelor's degree in accounting from Smeal in 1974, including delivering the fall 2003 commencement address for Penn State.
Prior to joining ADM, Woertz spent 29 years at Chevron, retiring in February 2006 as executive vice president of the company's Global Downstream division.
She is a member of the National Petroleum Council, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Business Council and Business Roundtable. Woertz also sits on the board of trustees of the University of San Diego in California and on Smeal's Board of Visitors.
Ranking just behind Woertz on USA Today's female CEO "outperformers" list are Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, whose stock rose 21 percent in 2007, and Andrea Jung of Avon Products, who led the company to 20 percent growth last year. The CEOs of eBay, Western Union and WellPoint round out the newspaper's list.