Safe At The Top

Tufts graduate Ellen J. Kullman thrives as a female executive at one of the nation’s largest—and increasingly important— manufacturers.

Medford/Somerville, Mass. [11.5.04] Over the last decade, Ellen Kullman has watched as interest in workplace safety issues has steadily increased. But the Tufts graduate – who heads DuPont’s multi-billion dollar Safety and Protection group, says the recent increase in global terrorism has fueled growing international interest in the field.

"That's when we saw the U.S. government and other governments of the world really thinking about buildings and protection in a very different way," Kullman – who has worked at DuPont for nearly two decades – told the Delaware News Journal.

Even before the events of September 11, 2001, safety emerged as a priority in the wake of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and the attacks on two U.S. embassies in 1998, and Kullman oversaw DuPont’s adaptation to that shift.

"You have to think about it more holistically," she told the News Journal.

Kullman, who graduated from Tufts in 1978 with a degree in mechanical engineering, launched DuPont's work-force safety consulting business in 1998, overseeing more than 25 percent growth in each year of its existence. These established relationships with customers, Kullman told the News Journal, help her company respond flexibly to a changing marketplace.

In 2002, DuPont collected all of its safety-oriented enterprises within one group and put Kullman at the helm of the new division, now valued at over $4 billion. Management of familiar DuPont brands like Kevlar, Tyvek and Corian falls within the Tufts graduate’s purview.

Kullman has also sought to expand DuPont’s business abroad. A recent trip to Asia showed her that developing nations are seeking to elevate their safety standards to those of the world’s wealthy countries.

“It's a totally different feel,” she explained to the News Journal. “They're reaching out, asking what we can do."

Aside from being the first female executive at DuPont, she also recently assumed memberships to the boards of both General Motors and the National Safety Council and sits on the Board of Overseers for the Tufts School of Engineering.

After graduating from Tufts, Kullman went on to get her MBA from Northwestern. After several years at General Electric, the 48-year-old came to work at DuPont – based in her native Wilmington, Delaware – in 1988.

Kullman balances heading up the company’s most profitable division with raising her family, which includes her husband and fellow DuPont employee Michael, 10-year-old twin sons and a 14-year-old daughter

"I love what I do, and I'm a much better parent because I work than if I didn't work,” she told the News Journal.

The president of the National Association of Female Executives, Betty Spence, called Kullman a “visionary,” the newspaper reported. “[Kullman]'s fortunate to be at a company like DuPont where they can see, appreciate and reward female talent,” Spence said.

Despite her role as a working mom in a male-dominated corporate environment, the outgoing Kullman has never felt at a disadvantage.

"I never viewed myself as different,” she told the News Journal. “I think that helps because you're not looking for it, you're saying, 'Hey, let it go.' And if I'm comfortable, everybody else is comfortable.”