DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD
Diana M. Peninger (ChE 86)
Diana Peninger grew up in Sioux Falls and attended Lincoln High School. Since graduating from Tech, Diana has spent most of her 30-year career in the chemical industry with Celanese Corporation where she started in the manufacturing plant in Pampa Texas. Ms. Peninger has had several expatriate assignments in Frankfurt, Germany. As Director of Global Strategic Marketing for Celanese in Germany, she developed growth strategies and leveraged acquisitions that grew the business to $700M revenue.
Ms. Peninger left Celanese in 2005 to take a leadership role with Chemtura Corporation, a chemical company in Middlebury, Connecticut. As the Global Business Director, she led the financial and operational turnaround of a $370M business and was quickly promoted to Vice President where she led a turnaround for a global $500M business unit.
After spending two years with Chemtura, Diana was recruited back to Celanese by the CEO to head enterprise strategy development. Following two years as Director, Corporate Strategy & Business Development, she again headed to Frankfurt, Germany, for a five-year assignment as Vice President & General Manager, Nutrinova Specialty Food Ingredients as a direct report to the CEO. In addition to this position, Diana took on responsibility for the $340M business located in Alberta, Canada and oversight for the European region. Her most recent role was Vice President of a $2.3B business portfolio where she had worldwide P&L responsibility for four global businesses with five manufacturing plants located around the world.
Diana Peninger currently serves on the Board of Directors for Rogers Group, Inc., a privately held company that supplies crushed stone, and asphalt. She also serves on the Board of C200, the world’s premier women’s organization of entrepreneur and corporate CEO’s and senior executives.
Diana is profiled in the Sept/Oct 2012, Diversity Journal, “Women Worth Watching, Global Companies for Advancing Women in Leadership”.
Throughout her career, Ms. Peninger has transformed mid-sized to large complex global businesses
Simply by identifying opportunities that others haven’t seen and executing using smart business models. After living 10 years internationally, she is recognized as an authentic, multilingual, forward-thinking leader committed to building diverse and motivated teams in the face of unprecedented global change.
Diana is most proud of her South Dakota heritage and the deep midwestern values that were instilled by her grandparents. It is these and blessings from God that she and her husband of 28 years pass on to their two boys and of which they are so thankful.