Goodyear appoints ex-CIA man to board

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has appointed Michael J. Morell, a retired deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency to its board of directors. The election brings the size of Goodyear’s board to 13 members.

Morell served as deputy director of the CIA from May 2010 to August 2013. A career officer, he held a variety of senior leadership positions with the agency, including serving as acting director twice, director of intelligence and executive director. He also served as a deputy director at the National Counterterrorism Center.

According to Goodyear, Morell joined the CIA in 1980 as an analyst covering international energy issues. He later worked on East Asia for 14 years, holding a number of jobs in analysis and in management before his selection in 1999 as director of Asian Pacific and Latin American analysis.

A native of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Morell earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Akron and a master’s degree in economics from Georgetown University.

Morell, 55, served on President Barack Obama’s Review Group on Intelligence and Telecommunications. He is a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a counselor at Beacon Global Strategies, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

He received the Distinguished Intelligence Medal for his role in the 2011 operation against Osama Bin Laden, the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Department of Defense Service Medal, and four CIA Director’s Awards.

“We are pleased to have Michael Morell join the Goodyear Board of Directors,” said Goodyear Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard J. Kramer. “He brings to our board outstanding leadership skills and a global perspective gained during the course of three decades of distinguished service to the United States. We look forward to adding his skills and expertise to our board.”

In addition to its new-found connection with international espionage, Goodyear has good OE-tyre supply ties with the US military and military vehicle and aircraft suppliers. A relatively recent example is the company’s 2012 contract to supply Embraer Defense and Security with tyres for its KC-390 twin-engine, jet-powered military airlifter and tanker with Goodyear military aviation tyres.

In November 2013 Goodyear was named as a Top 100 Military Friendly Employer by GI Jobs magazine for the second consecutive year. The listing recognised the company’s efforts to hire and support veteran employees.