Nancy Gioia
Ford Motor Company
Nancy Lee Gioia is Ford Motor Company's director of Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Vehicle Programs. Appointed to this position Nov. 1, 2005, she is leading efforts develop and implement Ford's current and next generation of sustainable products – including today's Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid.
Prior to this assignment, Gioia was Director of Current Model Vehicle Quality for North America where she was responsible for overall current model quality performance. Gioia has held several key management and executive positions within Ford Product Development, including valuable experience in electronics architecture design and integration in vehicles. She also was Chief Engineer for the Ford Aeromax class-8 truck line and the 2002 Ford Thunderbird program. She went on to direct engineering for all Ford, Lincoln and Mercury passenger cars in North America before taking on her current assignment. To date, Gioia has been a key part of 26 different vehicle launches at the company.
Gioia joined Ford Motor Company in 1982 as a graduate trainee in the Electronics Division. From 1983 to 1986, she held various positions in the Division's Powertrain business unit. In June 1986, she became manufacturing and quality engineer at the Engine Control Electronics facility in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Her manufacturing experience continued in management positions in the organization, including the launch of Ford's new facility in Cadiz, Spain in 1989.
In June 1991, Gioia was named alliance manager for the Electronics Division, responsible for the management, development and growth of more than 18 strategic alliances. In February 1993, she became manufacturing and materials planning and logistics manager, and, later that year, manager of assembly operations in the Climate Control Division at Ford's Plymouth, Mich. plant.
Beginning in August 1994, Gioia took on a number of key assignments as engineering chief for several vehicle nameplates and platforms. She was named chief engineer – Commercial Truck, Automotive Components Division and in February 1996 was appointed chief program engineer for the Louisville/AeroMax truck line. She then served as chief program engineer for the all-new 2002 Ford Thunderbird (2002 Motor Trend Car of the Year) delivering the vehicle from concept to production.
Gioia combines her hands-on and management experience in electronics architectures, manufacturing, vehicle engineering, vehicle program management, quality engineering systems and executive direction to the Sustainable Mobility Technology and Hybrid Vehicle Programs group. This position includes direction of scientists working in Ford's Research and Innovations Center developing tomorrow's propulsion solutions, development of corporate sustainability strategies and plans and direction of a global product engineering group applying and integrating new technologies into products for consumers today and in the future.
Gioia received her Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and her Master of Sciences in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Stanford University. While studying with the assistance of a Ford Advanced Education Fellowship, she received the Outstanding Service Award from the Stanford Institute for Manufacturing and Automation. In July 2001, she received the All Star Award from Automotive News and in 2005 she was named as one of the Automotive News "100 Leading Women in the Auto Industry." In September 2007, she received the Rare Foundation's "Ordinary Hero" Award for her leadership and mentoring efforts, and in October, the 2007 Crain's Detroit Business Award as one of Metro Detroit's Most Influential Women. She remains an active member with Stanford University as the Ford Corporate Champion and is a member of the Smith College Advisory Board, the Electric Drive Transportation Association Board, and the UC Davis Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Center Advisory Board.
