Elizabeth H. Klimes
Vice President Six Sigma
Eli Lilly and Company

In 2004, Elizabeth H. Klimes was named to develop and lead Lilly’s deployment of Six Sigma. She is also a member of the company's senior management forum, a group of top Lilly executives who implements corporate strategies, ensures corporate performance and identifies corporate issues and opportunities. She had been president of Specialty Care Products since December 2002. A native of Indiana, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 1981. She also received a master of business administration degree from Indiana University.

Ms. Klimes joined Lilly in 1982, as a design engineer in process automation and subsequently worked in manufacturing facility and capacity planning before becoming manager of manufacturing strategy development in 1989. In 1991, she became manager of biochemical manufacturing. She was named plant manager for Indianapolis dry product manufacturing in 1993. In 1995, Ms. Klimes accepted a position as director of manufacturing for the endocrine business unit, and in 1997, became executive director and chief procurement officer. In 1998, Ms. Klimes became general manager of Lilly Deutschland GmbH. In January 2001, she returned to the United States as president, Diabetes and Growth Disorders.

She is a member of the Board of Trustees for Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and the Advisory Board for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. Ms. Klimes is married and has three children, ages 20, 15 and 12.