Roderick D. Gillum

Born: Detroit, Michigan

Company: General Motors Corporation (GM)

Position: Vice President Corporate Responsibility and Diversity

Industry: Automotive

Country: United States

Roderick D. Gillum has been vice president, Corporate Responsibility and Diversity, for General Motors Corporation since August 1997. He is also chairman of the General Motors Foundation. He is responsible for global corporate social responsibility initiatives, which include community relations, philanthropy, business ethics, and diversity management within the corporation. In addition, Gillum is chairman of Motor Enterprises Incorporated, a subsidiary of General Motors, specializing in providing capital for GM minority suppliers.

Gillum joined General Motors in 1979 and has held several executive positions. He also served in two separate capacities at Saturn Corporation, a GM subsidiary. From 1985 to 1986, he served as manager, strategic planning, and from 1988 to 1993 as vice president, general counsel, and secretary.

From 1986 to 1988, Gillum was secretary to the General Motors Board of Directors where he was responsible for the preparation and maintenance of Board and committee agendas and minutes and notices to the stock exchanges. Immediately prior to his election as a vice president, his assignment was chief personnel and labor attorney. In that capacity, he was responsible for all legal matters related to personnel, labor relations, benefit plans, and worker's compensation. This included the coordination of the successful defense to the largest employee benefit case in U.S. history (Sprague vs. GM).

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Gillum earned a bachelor of arts degree from Michigan State University in 1972 and a juris doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston in 1975. After being awarded a Sloan Fellowship, Gillum received a master of science in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in June 1985. Prior to joining GM as an attorney in 1979, he was an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board in Detroit. His previous experience also included serving as administrative assistant to the late state of Michigan Senator Arthur Cartwright.

Gillum was elected by his peers and serves as a Fellow in the American Bar Association's College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He is also a recipient of the National Bar Association's prestigious Equal Justice Award. Gillum serves on the Board of Holcim, Inc.; National Urban League; Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; National Council of LaRaza; Hispanic Association Corporate Responsibility; Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Shorenstein Center; Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (chair); The Washington D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.; Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Michigan Colleges Foundation; and New Detroit (vice chair).