Chris Theodore
Vice President, Advanced Product Creation
Ford Motor Company

Chris Theodore is Vice President, Advanced Product Creation, Ford Motor Company. His role includes: creating a strategic design vision for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products and brands; developing new products and features; bringing together technology, marketing and trends with concepts and show vehicles; and facilitating a stable cycle plan and platform selections. Theodore is also responsible for the Ford Performance Group, including SVT, and Ford Motor Company’s advanced product activities throughout North America. Previously, Theodore was vice president of Ford North America Product Development, responsible for the design, engineering and development of all Ford cars and light trucks sold in North America.

Theodore has a 32-year career with vast experiences in the automotive industry. His career began at Ford where he was college intern and an engineer in the heavy truck group. He left Ford in 1974 to join General Motors as a research engineer in the Detroit Diesel Division. He was director of engine engineering at American Motors Corp. from 1985-1989. When AMC was acquired by Chrysler Corp., Theodore was named powertrain executive of the minivan platform team.

At Chrysler Corp., he then became the general manager for the development of the second-generation Chrysler mini-van and subsequently general manager in charge of the Neon and PT Cruiser. When he left Daimler-Chrysler in 1999, he was Senior Vice President of Platform Engineering and was credited with helping to create and maximize the efficiencies of the platform team organization in product development.

Theodore returned to Ford as vice president, Ford North America Car in 1999, where he worked to re-energize the car market with the introduction of the legendary Thunderbird. In addition to Thunderbird, Theodore oversaw ongoing product development of the Ford passenger cars and Ford's forthcoming barrage of 2005 product including the 500, Freestyle, Mustang and Ford GT Supercar.

Theodore earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1972; a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan-Dearborn in 1975; and an MBA from Michigan State University in 1989.