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Susan M. Cischke (pron. SIS-key) is group vice president, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, effective April 1, 2008. She has served as Ford's top environmental and safety officer since January 2001.
Cischke is responsible for establishing Ford Motor Company's long range sustainability strategy and environmental policy. That strategy, Ford’s Blueprint for Sustainability, sets the path for technology implementation across Ford’s global product line-up to achieve a 30 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020. Cischke serves as Ford's chief liaison with global organizations seeking solutions to the challenges of sustainability, environmental stewardship and energy independence.
In addition, Cischke is responsible for influencing future environmental and safety regulations and assuring that Ford Motor Company meets or exceeds all safety and environmental regulations worldwide. She is also responsible for establishing Ford's long term safety strategy, promoting aggressive standardization of product technology features delivering real world safety benefits. As Ford's chief safety officer, she leads the Driving Skills for Life program, a partnership between Ford Motor Company and the Governor's State Highway Traffic Association that teaches safe driving technique to teens.
Prior to joining Ford, Cischke was senior vice president of Regulatory Affairs and Passenger Car Operations at DaimlerChrysler. She began her career at Chrysler Corporation in 1976 and held various engineering positions until 1994 when she was named general manager of Scientific Labs and Proving Grounds. In 1996, she was named vice president of Vehicle Certification, Compliance and Safety Affairs.
Cischke is a council member of the World Economic Forum. She is also a member of the University of Michigan College of Engineering Advisory Council and serves on the Executive Committee for both the Ford-MIT Alliance and the Ford-University of Michigan Innovation Alliance. She serves on the board of the Ford Motor Company Fund and as the executive sponsor of the Professional Women's Network at Ford.
In 2008, the Automotive Hall of Fame honored Cischke with its Distinguished Service Citation. In 1997, Cischke received the Horace H. Rackham Award for outstanding humanitarian achievements from the Engineering Society of Detroit, the first woman in the society's 102-year history to win the award. She has been named one of Automotive News 100 Leading Women three times and was chosen as one of Crain's Detroit Business Most Influential Women.
Her community commitments include serving as a director of the Inforum Center for Leadership board, as well as a trustee on the boards of the Henry Ford Health System Foundation and the Detroit Science Center.
Cischke holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. She earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, an advanced degree in management from the Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan, and attended the Tuck Executive Program at Dartmouth College.