Patricia Ackerman

Patricia Ackerman has been with A.O. Smith since 1983. The company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of residential and commercial water heating equipment with a global footprint of operations in North America, China, India and Europe. Named senior vice president in 2019 with the addition of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CRS) functions to her previous role of vice president of investor relations and treasurer, Patricia sets the company’s global CRS strategy and goals and drives improvement for operations, human capital and governance to create shareholder value. She leads investor communications, shareholder outreach, rating agency interactions, treasury and pension investment, and capital market debt financing for this $3 billion revenue global company since 2008. Over the course of her investor relations tenure, the company’s market cap grew from $1 billion to $11 billion during which time the company was added to the S&P 500 index. Patricia served on the senior leadership team during the company’s tremendous transformation and creation of significant shareholder value. Risk management, real estate and audit functions have also been her responsibility in prior roles including leading the company’s progress in enterprise risk management, internal and financial controls, and product and plant safety. She has also served as the finance team co-lead with the CFO for acquisitions, divestitures and equity offerings and played a key role in the company’s rapid expansion in China and India.