USA
Anti-Corruption
Agriculture
October 2011
Vol. 5, No. 17, Autumn 2011
Debra Kuper
More
Debra Kuper joined AGCO in January 2008 as Vice President with overall responsibility for the company's legal matters. AGCO, located in Duluth, GA, is a leading global manufacturer of agricultural equipment, including tractors, combines, hay tools, sprayers, forage and tillage equipment. AGCO employs 15,000 individuals and generates $8B in annual revenues. Debra was the first female executive on AGCO’s senior management team. She was also the first female in the board room in her role as the Corporate Secretary of AGCO. She is responsible for all of the company’s legal matters, including litigation, regulatory and securities filings, executive compensation, M&A, joint ventures, corporate records and minutes, resolutions and consents of AGCO’s Board of Directors. She supervises all of the company’s 25 attorneys (15 are women) and 12 support staff disbursed throughout Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Russia, Switzerland and the U.K. As a member of the senior management team reporting to the CEO, Debra determines litigation strategy throughout the organization. In addition, she serves as the Global Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer and manages a team of 18 compliance officers and controllers. She also supervises 17 product safety and standards engineers.
Ms. Kuper was chosen as one of the “2010 Most Powerful and Influential Women in Georgia” and received the Glass Ceiling Award at the Georgia Leadership Conference, sponsored by the National Diversity Council. She won the International Law Office award for the “2011 Employment Team of the Year Award,” the Inside Counsel Magazine award for “2011 One of the 10 Most Innovative Legal Departments in the Country,” and has been nominated for the Corporate Secretary Magazine “2011 Corporate Governance Team of the Year,” “2011 Best Overall Governance, Compliance and Ethics Program,” “2011 Governance Professional of the Year,” “2010 Best Overall Governance, Compliance and Ethics Program,” “2009 Corporate Secretary of the Year,” and “2009 Best Overall Governance, Compliance and Ethics Program.” She has been featured in the June 2011 edition of The National Law Journal in an article entitled “Farm Girl,” the May 2010 edition of Inside Counsel magazine in an article entitled “Compliance Management Questions Linger,” the September 2009 edition of Inside Counsel magazine in an article entitled “Coming Up Roses,” and the August 2008 edition of Corporate Counsel magazine in an article entitled “Heading Up the Farm Team.” She is a frequent speaker at industry seminars.
Ms. Kuper joined AGCO from Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria, Illinois. She received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a J.D. from Marquette University, where she also taught as an adjunct professor. She is a member of the Wisconsin Bar Association, American Bar Association, Association of Corporate Governance Professionals, The Diversity Council, the National Association of Women Lawyers and the National Association of Professional Women.
AGCO
More
AGCO has a brand heritage reaching back to the mid-1800s. AGCO was established in 1990 with the purchase of Deutz Allis Corporation from German-based Kloeckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG. KHD, in turn, had purchased portions of the Allis-Chalmers agricultural equipment business five years earlier. Since that time, AGCO has become a worldwide farm machinery company through market growth, strategic acquisitions and cutting edge agricultural solutions.
USA
Anti-Corruption
Agriculture
October 2011
Vol. 5, No. 17, Autumn 2011