Richard (Dick) Wilkerson retired as Chairman and President of Michelin North America in December 2011 after nearly 32 years with the Company. Prior to this role, he held several senior positions with Michelin including Chief Operating Officer for the company’s North American Specialty Tire Product Lines and Executive Vice President of Human Resources. During his career, Mr. Wilkerson worked in Michelin operations in France, Scotland and North America.

Mr. Wilkerson led Michelin North America through “the Great Recession” to record profitability and to becoming the largest tire company in North America.

Under his leadership, Michelin started its award-winning Challenge Education Program providing support for Title 1 elementary schools at every Michelin location in North America. In addition, he initiated the Michelin Development Program in the upstate of South Carolina to help socially and economically stressed people start their own companies after the 2008 recession. In support of Michelin’s worldwide focus on environmental responsibility, Mr. Wilkerson initiated the Yellowstone Park Foundation Partnership which uses Michelin technology to support the Green initiatives at Yellowstone Park.

Mr. Wilkerson is past chairman of the Executive Committee of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. He is also a past member of the Board of Directors of the Yellowstone Park Foundation. Previously, he served on the Clemson University President’s Advisory Board and the University of South Carolina National Advisory Council. He was named the 2010 Clemson Business Person of the Year. In 2011, the South Carolina School Board Association named him a Champion for Public Education.

He is active in the Greenville, S.C. community. He is past chairman of the boards of the United Way of Greenville County, the Greenville Area Development Corporation, and the Community Foundation of Greenville and is a current member of the Boards of Directors of the South Carolina Institute of Medicine and Public Health, the United Way of Greenville County, the Institute for Child Success, and Prisma Health. He also chairs the Habitat for Humanity CEO build each year in Greenville.

Mr. Wilkerson holds a civil engineering degree from Duke University, as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the College of Charleston, and an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree from Norwich University.