AGCO VP Among ‘Women of Excellence’

Each year Business to Business magazine recognizes Atlanta’s most exceptional professional women as Women of Excellence honorees. The award highlights their outstanding professional achievements and commitment, their leadership skills and their positive community impact.Debra Kuper joined the Company in January of 2008.  As Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, she is responsible for all of the Company’s legal matters, including compliance, litigation, regulatory and securities filings, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance matters.  She supervises all of the Company’s 30 in-house attorneys, of whom 17 are women.  She was the first female executive on AGCO’s senior management team and the first female in their boardroom in her role as the Corporate Secretary. She is the co-executive sponsor of the newly formed AGCO Global Women’s Network, a business advisory group committed to developing, promoting and advocating leadership of women within AGCO.Debra joined AGCO from Caterpillar Inc. in Peoria, Illinois.  She received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a J.D. from Marquette University, where she also taught as an adjunct professor.  She is a member of the Diversity Council, the National Association of Women Lawyers, the National Association of Professional Women, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms.  She serves a director on the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, is an Audit Committee member of the Association for Corporate Counsel, and is on the Advisory Board of Best Lawyers publications.Debra also received several awards in the past honoring her professional achievements and her commitment to leadership and empowerment of women.  Among others, she was one of the National Diversity Council’s 2010 Most Powerful & Influential Women of Georgia, and the Board of Directors Network 2011 Executive Leadership Honor Roll. It was also announced this week that Kuper will receive Inside Counsel magazine’s 2013 Transformative Leadership Award for the Pamela L. Carter Award for her unyielding vision, core values and philosophy of using her achievements as inspiration to other women.