Cummins To Promote Top Lawyer to Chief Administrative Officer

Cummins Inc.‘s general counsel and vice president, Sharon Barner, will be promoted to chief administrative officer in April following the retirement of the engine manufacturer’s current CAO Marya Rose.

Barner will oversee global teams including communications, government relations, compliance, marketing, and legal, according to a Feb. 2 company statement. Cummins did not name a new general counsel in the statement.

“Sharon’s execution orientation and steady hand and sage advice, combined with more than 30 years of legal experience in the private and public sector, make her well positioned for CAO,” Cummins Chairman and CEO Tom Linebarger said in the statement.

Barner joined Cummins in 2012 after over a decade with Foley & Lardner, where she was most recently an IP-focused partner. She was also the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s deputy under secretary of commerce from 2009 to 2011.

The roles of general counsel and chief administrative officer have become increasingly intertwined. United Airlines promoted promoted Brett Hart to a combined position of executive vice president, general counsel, and chief administrative officer in 2017, and Hilary Krane of Nike Inc. also holds both the CAO and GC titles. In November 2020, Urban Outfitter’s general counsel, Azeez Hayne, was promoted to GC and chief administrative officer as well.

Rose will retire after over two decades with the Columbus, Ind.-based company. She was named CAO in 2011 after spending ten years as general counsel.

In 2019, Rose made over $5.4 million in total compensation, according to a company proxy statement, making her the company’s fourth-highest compensated executive that year. Barner’s promotion will likely elevate her into the ranks of Cummins’ top-paid leaders.

Both Barner and Rose made significant changes to Cummins’ legal department during their respective tenures as general counsel.

According to the statement, Rose expanded the company’s legal team globally and Barner consolidated Cummins’ outside law firms from over 200 to 24.

Barner has also been a vocal advocate of diversity in the law. She is a member of the Leadership Counsel on Legal Diversity and has made a public commitment to diversity as part of LCLD’s Leaders at the Front initiative.

In September, Cummins also promoted assistant general counsel John Gaidoo to deputy general counsel.