Kirsten Hewitt, senior vice president, Chief Legal Officer, and Executive Committee member of Whirlpool Corporation,has announced her intention to retire after nearly 25 years with the company. Her successor, Ava Harter, will join Whirlpool as senior vice president and Chief Legal Officer, effective Dec. 1, 2020. Harter will be a member of the Executive Committee and report to Chairman and CEO, Marc Bitzer.
“During her time with Whirlpool Corporation – a company press release say – Hewitt played a key leadership role in the global growth of Whirlpool Corporation. Under Hewitt’s leadership, her team enabled some of the Company’s most significant acquisitions and divestitures, including Maytag, Indesit, and Hefei Sanyo brands, as well as Embraco. She also led the global transformation of the Company’s legal team to continue to advance Whirlpool Corporation’s vision and strategy for the next century of innovation to improve life at home”.
Ava Harter joins Whirlpool Corporation from Owens Corning, where she served as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary since 2015. In this role, Harter oversaw global legal operations, government affairs and corporate affairs for Owens Corning. Prior to that, she acted as general counsel and chief compliance officer for Taleris America, LLC. Harter also previously held roles of increasing responsibility with General Electric, The Dow Chemical Company, Jones Day and Thompson Hine LLP.
Harter holds a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University School of Law, a Masters in Sociology from the University of Nebraska, and a BA in Political Science from Northwestern University, and was an adjunct professor at the Case Western Reserve University Law School.
