Accomplished Engineer Leading Honeywell UOP
Rebecca Liebert is an accomplished leader whose career is punctuated with paradigm-changing advancements in the organizations she has led. Earlier this year, she was named president and CEO of Honeywell UOP, a $3 billion business that is the world’s leading developer of technology for the oil and gas industries.
Liebert said growing up on her family’s farm in Kentucky prepared her for a career in engineering. “There was chemical engineering in managing the crops, mechanical engineering in maintaining the equipment, electrical engineering in powering the fences and buildings, and civil engineering in managing the fields,” she said.
With strong women role models, Liebert translated a successful academic career into a progression of business leadership roles. She has developed and executed initiatives driving revenue growth and profits in virtually every position she has held. Her colleagues say she’s a confident leader, and a successful engineer who puts her full effort into everything she does.
Liebert has risen through the ranks since joining Honeywell in 2006. She served as vice president and general manager for Honeywell’s Electronic Materials business. After that, she was vice president of Honeywell UOP’s Gas Processing and Hydrogen business. Then, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP’s Catalysts, Adsorbents and Specialties business. “My biggest career leap was starting the new Gas Processing and Hydrogen business at Honeywell UOP and building it into a successful enterprise,” she said.
She describes being a woman in a traditionally male profession as empowering. “I’ve seen my hands-on, roll-up your sleeves, get-it-done approach open doors, generate confidence, build new relationships and close deals. That personal touch means more than people think,” she said.
Professionally, she lives by the words “know the industry better than the competition, and the customers better than they know themselves.” Personally, she says, “it starts with you. Be yourself, be true to yourself, and take care of yourself.”
Liebert holds a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Kentucky, a doctorate in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
