Among Most Powerful Women In America Accounting Graduate Ranks

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA--Fortune magazine has selected a 1974 graduate of Penn State's Smeal College of Business as one of the "Most Powerful Women In America."

Patricia (Pat) Woertz, President of Chevron Products Company and a vice president of Chevron Corporation, is ranked 8th among the 50 "Most Powerful Women in American Business," according to Fortune magazine's annual compilation. Woertz, '74 Accounting, is in charge of the company's United States refining and marketing operations, international lubricants, and the trading of crude oil and refined products worldwide. The highest-ranking woman in the global energy industry, she has for the past three years been listed as one of the Fortune magazine's "50 Most Powerful Women in Business."

If or when the Federal Trade Commission's approves the pending merger between Chevron and Texaco - - expected some time during 2001 - - Woertz will assume the position of executive vice president of ChevronTexaco, with responsibility for the firm's entire worldwide refining, products marketing, trading and transportation operations.

For purposes of the list, Fortune defined "powerful" according to revenues and profits controlled, influence within a company, the importance of the business to the global economy, and its effect on culture and society. The 50 women featured in the October 15 issue have widely divergent backgrounds and represent a broad spectrum of businesses. To compile the list, Fortune talked with analysts, industry experts and recruiters, as well as the candidates, their bosses and their peers.

"We are especially proud of Pat's accomplishments throughout her career. She is a role model and inspiration for all of our students," says Judy Olian, Dean of Penn State's Smeal College of Business. Smeal College awards more baccalaureate degrees in business to women than any other AACSB International-accredited institution in the country, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education.

Born on St. Patrick's Day in Pittsburgh, Pa., Woertz graduated from Penn State University in 1974, with a bachelor's degree in accounting. Her career in some ways follows the example of her father, Charles Woertz, the former chief financial officer of a large home-construction and development company. The daughter of a librarian, Woertz was raised in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. She and her brother spent much of their formative summers on guided tours led by their mother, Vi, including to the New York World's Fair, museums and manufacturing companies.

"My mother felt we'd be earning a living during our entire adult lives, and therefore believed we should spend summers in learning activities," recalls Woertz. "Consequently, I got to see a plate glass factory in Pittsburgh, a U.S. Steel plant, and how Heinz made ketchup. There's no doubt that this was the start of my fascination with the workings of complex systems."

After Penn State, Ms. Woertz joined Ernst & Young as a certified public accountant. In 1977, she joined Gulf Oil Corp in Pittsburgh, and four years later transferred to Houston to head Gulf's U.S. upstream audit group. From 1985 to 1987 - - during the merger of Gulf and Chevron - - she worked on asset divestitures as part of a major debt reduction process. Her subsequent assignments have taken her through many aspects of the complex system that is a multinational energy company.

For nearly three years she served as finance manager of Chevron's information technology subsidiary, and then spent two years as the Corporation's strategic planning manager, where she led a team that developed the strategic planning process still used by the company. In 1993, she was named president of Chevron Canada Ltd., a Vancouver, British Columbia-based refining and marketing company that's a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron Corp. She later served as president of Chevron International Oil, a worldwide crude and products trading operation. Woertz was elected to the board of directors of Dynegy Inc., an affiliate of Chevron that is the largest natural gas and gas liquids marketer in North America. And as the head of Chevron Products Company, she's been responsible for six refineries, more than 8,100 retail outlets, and various other operations that in 2000 generated $778 million in earnings.

At ChevronTexaco, Woertz would oversee four major operating companies and 5 global businesses, with revenues estimated at roughly $80 billion. She will likely continue to employ a leadership style that's built upon the ideas of clarity, inclusion and accountability.

"You have to create a succinct and common vision, while carefully articulating exactly where you want people to go," explains Woertz. "We live in a complicated world, where messages are so easily misunderstood. Clarity is essential. And perhaps the best way to gain clarity is to seek input from as many sources as possible. That doesn't mean you always need consensus, which may take too long in a quick-paced world. But with inclusion you get great insights from people, to where you can make an informed decision."

Accountability drives everything else, Woertz contends. "I'm accountable for not only producing operating and financial results, but also investing in and motivating people, individually and through teams, to deliver those results. But when I talk about accountability and consequences, I don't just talk about the downsides of failure, but the rewards for success. Too often we overlook the tremendous positives that come from assuming accountability."

Married and the mother of three children, Woertz serves on the board of directors of the Western States Petroleum Association and the California Chamber of Commerce.

The complete list can be found online at http://www.fortune.com .