Woertz, Patricia A.

▪ 2007

      When Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM), a dominant American grain processor long known by its former slogan, “Supermarket to the world,” tapped Patricia A. Woertz, a leading petroleum industry executive, as its president and CEO in May 2006, the move signaled the firm's commitment to a nonfood branch of business: biofuels. ADM already claimed nearly 30% of the American market in corn-derived ethanol (a market projected to double by 2012), and Woertz's extensive oil-industry experience was expected to secure ADM's position as a top global producer of crop-based fuels, even as the company dominated markets for soy, wheat, corn, and other food products.

      Woertz was born on March 17, 1953, in Pittsburgh. After studying accounting at Pennsylvania State University (B.S., 1974), she joined accounting firm Ernst & Young in Pittsburgh as a certified public accountant. She moved to Gulf Oil Corp.'s Pittsburgh office in 1977, expanding her purview to such areas as strategic planning, marketing, and the refinery business. Charged with handling asset divestitures as part of Gulf's 1984 merger with Chevron Corp., she next led Chevron's upstream audit group in Houston. By 1991 Woertz headed Chevron's strategic planning, and she soon advanced into other key positions, including president of Chevron International Oil Co. (1996–98) and of Chevron Products Co. (1998–2001). As the executive vice president of downstream operations (2001–06) for ChevronTexaco (the two petroleum firms merged in 2001), Woertz managed 30,000 employees around the world and handled all operations downstream of oil productions, from refineries to service stations.

      The scale of ADM's operations therefore presented no problem for Woertz. With roughly $36.5 billion in annual revenues, ADM's total income represented a fraction of the $100 billion grossed by her former Chevron division. In fact, Woertz's concerns would be very different, as she sought to balance market demand for grain products with the development of profitable synthetic fuels. Although ethanol production was centred in the U.S. Midwest, ADM manufactured biodiesel (from vegetable oils) in Germany, South America, and Asia, while other plants in Brazil and North Dakota were under construction. Too much emphasis on biofuel production, however, would raise the price of soy and corn used for foods—an outcome certain to create negative public opinion, not to mention disfavour among politicians.

      Woertz's more-difficult challenges might lie in ADM's entrenched management practices. Although G. Allen Andreas stepped down as CEO to make way for Woertz, he remained ADM's chairman. The firm had long been dominated by the Andreas family (relatives had held the CEO position since 1970), which led to speculation that the new CEO could be blocked from making independent decisions. ADM was nonetheless poised to grow under her direction, and Woertz herself saw American demand for ethanol tripling—a demand that ADM planned to meet.

Sarah Forbes Orwig

* * *

▪ American business executive

born March 17, 1953, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.

      American businesswoman who was named president and CEO of the agricultural processing corporation Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) in 2006.

      After studying accounting at Pennsylvania State University (B.S., 1974), Woertz joined the accounting firm Ernst & Young in Pittsburgh as a certified public accountant. She moved to Gulf Oil Corporation's Pittsburgh office in 1977, expanding her purview to such areas as strategic planning, marketing, and the refinery business. Charged with handling asset divestitures as part of Gulf's 1984 merger with Chevron Corporation, she next led Chevron's upstream audit group in Houston. By 1991 Woertz headed Chevron's strategic planning, and she soon advanced into other key positions, including president of Chevron International Oil Co. (1996–98) and of Chevron Products Co. (1998–2001). As the executive vice president of downstream operations (2001–06) for ChevronTexaco (the two petroleum firms merged in 2001), Woertz managed 30,000 employees around the world and handled all operations downstream of oil productions, from refineries to service stations.

      ADM's selection of Woertz to run the company signaled the firm's commitment to a nonfood branch of business: biofuels (biofuel). By 2006 ADM already claimed nearly 30 percent of the American market in corn-derived ethanol (a market projected to double by 2012), and Woertz's extensive oil-industry experience was expected to secure ADM's position as a top global producer of crop-based fuels, even as the company dominated markets for soy, wheat, corn, and other food products.

* * *