UAW Official, University President Join Chrysler Board

Chrysler Group LLC has named Erickson Perkins, director of strategic research at the United Auto Workers Union, and Ruth Simmons, president of Brown University, to its nine-member board of directors, effective June 10.

Perkins replaces former Michigan Governor James Blanchard as board representative of the UAW's retiree healthcare trust, which owns 41.5% of Chrysler. Blanchard's term expired this month. Simmons fills a seat that has been vacant since September.

Simmons will step down as Brown's president this month but remain as a professor of comparative literature and African studies. She was previously president of Smith College, America's largest women's college.

Perkins is the first UAW official to sit on Chrysler's board since the union's former president Ron Gettelfinger stepped down in September 2007 after Daimler AG sold the company to Cerberus Capital Management.

Perkins began his career as a portfolio manager at Alliance Capital Management LP and later worked as a consultant on economic issues and organizing strategies for several unions. He joined the staff of UAW President Bob King in the research post in July 2010. Perkins also was a member of the union's national bargaining team during 2011 contract negotiations with the Detroit Three.