Vernon Baker is senior vice president and general counsel of ArvinMeritor, Inc. In this position, he has overall legal responsibility for all of ArvinMeritor’s global operations and its subsidiaries. In addition, Baker directs all legal activities in the corporation, including corporate governance; acquisitions and divestitures; litigation; business standards compliance; regulatory compliance; and intellectual property. He also has functional oversight responsibility for the environmental and health and safety areas, and recently assumed responsibility for the global human resources organization.

Prior to the July 2000 merger of Arvin Inc. and Meritor Automotive Inc., Baker was senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Meritor, a global supplier of components and systems for commercial, specialty and light vehicle OEMs and the aftermarket.

Before joining Meritor in 1999, Baker spent 17 years at Hoechst Celanese Corp., where he was vice president and general counsel, Corporate Research and Technology. Prior to that, he served as associate general counsel for Hoechst’s Advanced Material Group. Baker began his professional career in 1978 as an associate with the law firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal and Lewis. Two years later, he joined the Corporate Law department of Scott Paper Co.

Baker holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., and a Juris Doctorate from American University, Washington College of Law, in Washington, D.C. In 2008, Baker was named a “Leader in the Law” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly and Midwest In-House for his professional accomplishments at ArvinMeritor, as well as within the legal community. Prior to that, he was honored with the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Trailblazer Award, which recognizes the outstanding achievements of minority in-house counsels who also stand as role models in the legal profession.

ArvinMeritor, Inc. is a premier global supplier of a broad range of integrated systems, modules and components to the motor vehicle industry. The company serves commercial truck, trailer and specialty original equipment manufacturers and certain aftermarkets, and light vehicle manufacturers.