About Us – Corporate Profile > WM Leadership
David P. Steiner
Chief Executive Officer
David Steiner is chief executive officer for Waste Management. Prior to being elected CEO in March 2004, Steiner was Waste Management's chief financial officer. Steiner joined Waste Management in November 2000 as vice president and deputy general counsel and was appointed senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary in July 2001. In April 2003, he was elected CFO. He joined WM from Phelps Dunbar, a law firm in New Orleans, La. Prior to that, he was an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in San Jose, Calif.
Lawrence O'Donnell, III
President and Chief Operating Officer
Lawrence (Larry) O'Donnell, III is president and chief operating officer for Waste Management. Prior to being elected president and COO in March 2004, O'Donnell was Waste Management's executive vice president, operations support and chief administrative officer. Prior to that assignment, O'Donnell was executive vice president of Waste Management's Western Group. Prior to joining WM, O'Donnell was vice president and general counsel for Baker Hughes Inc. Before that, he was a partner in a Houston law firm.
Robert G. Simpson
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Robert (Bob) Simpson is chief financial officer for Waste Management and is responsible for the company's accounting, business improvement, internal audit, investor relations, tax, treasury, risk management, and profit and budget analysis functions. Prior to being elected CFO in March 2004, Simpson was Waste Management's senior vice president and chief accounting officer. Prior to that assignment, he was vice president of taxation for Waste Management. Before joining WM, Simpson held the positions of vice president and general manager of Tenneco Business Services and vice president of tax. Previously, he was director of federal taxes for Phillip Morris with the Kraft General Foods Division.
Jeff Harris
Senior Vice President, Midwestern Group
Jeff Harris is the senior vice president of the Midwestern Group and has the overall responsibility for all operations including collection, disposal, recycling and landfills. Previously, Harris was area vice president in charge of the Michigan, SW Ontario and Greater Toronto market areas. He has spent his entire career in the waste industry and has more than 28 years of experience prior to this position. Before joining WM in 1999, he worked 17 years with Browning Ferris Industries, Inc. and served 4 years with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Duane C. Woods
Senior Vice President, Western Group
Duane Woods is the senior vice president of the Western Group and has the overall responsibility for all operations including collection, disposal, recycling and landfills. Previously, Woods was vice president and general counsel for the Western Group and has more than 22 years of environmental and regulatory experience in all aspects of the waste industry. Prior to joining WM, Woods was a partner at the firm of Heller, Erhman White & McAuliffe and Summit Law Group. He also held positions in local and state policy and management for the City of Seattle and served as assistant secretary for the State of Washington.
Brett Frazier
Senior Vice President, Eastern Group
Brett Frazier is the senior vice president of the Eastern Group and has the overall responsibility for all operations including collection, disposal, recycling and landfills. Frazier has also held positions as vice president of collections operations support, vice president of business improvement processes, and as a market area general manager for the Houston metro area. Before joining WM, Frazier was a vice president at Browning-Ferris Industries.
James E. Trevathan
Senior Vice President, Southern Group
James (Jim) Trevathan is the senior vice president of the Southern Group and has the overall responsibility for all operations including collection, disposal, recycling and landfills in the Southern Group, including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Previously, Trevathan served as senior vice president of the Eastern Group and prior to that he was senior vice president of sales and marketing for Waste Management and was responsible for sales and marketing initiatives. Prior to joining WM, Trevathan held sales and marketing positions with the Stauffer Chemical Company.
Patrick J. DeRueda
President, Waste Management Recycle America
Patrick (Pat) DeRueda is president of Waste Management Recycle America (WMRA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Waste Management, Inc. He joined Waste Management in 2001. Most recently, he was market area general manager for WM’s New Mexico market and led it to top performance levels in the company. Prior to joining WM, DeRueda worked with Browning-Ferris Industries for 14 years.
Mark A. Weidman
President of Wheelabrator Technologies Inc.
Mark Weidman is president of Wheelabrator Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Waste Management, Inc. Wheelabrator Technologies owns and/or operates 17 waste-to-energy facilities and 6 independent power production facilities. Previously, Weidman was vice president of operations for Wheelabrator. Prior to joining WM, Weidman was president of Residuals Processing Division of Synagro Technologies, Inc.
Rick L Wittenbraker
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Rick Wittenbraker is senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer for Waste Management and has primary responsibility for the management of all legal matters relating to the company and its operating subsidiaries. He directs Waste Management’s legal staff at its corporate headquarters and in its North American operating units. He also has senior responsibility for the supervision and management of the company's outside legal counsel and its legal compliance program. Wittenbraker joined Waste Management from the Houston office of Bracewell & Patterson, L.L.P., where he was a partner and led the firm's business practice group.
David A. Aardsma
Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing
David (Dave) Aardsma is senior vice president of sales & marketing for Waste Management and is responsible for leading the company's sales, marketing, pricing, customer service, and national accounts strategies. Prior to being selected Sr. VP sales & marketing, Aardsma was vice president of sales and was responsible for the rollout of the Sales Force Effectiveness Program. Prior to that assignment, Aardsma was the vice president of sales for the 10-state Western Group for Waste Management. He has more than 25 years of experience working with sales and operations in the company.
Lynn M. Caddell
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer
Lynn Caddell is senior vice president and chief information officer for Waste Management. She has lead responsibility for the company's information technology functions. Prior to joining WM, Caddell was president of Yellow Technologies, and before that position she directed systems development for America West Airlines. She also held engineering management positions at Motorola, Inc. and served as an engineer at International Business Machines, Inc.
Barry H. Caldwell
Senior Vice President, Government Affairs and Corporate Communications
Barry Caldwell is senior vice president of government affairs and corporate communications for Waste Management. Caldwell is responsible for leading the company's government affairs, corporate communications and community relations programs and activities. Prior to joining WM, Caldwell was vice president, government relations for CIGNA Corporation. Previously, he was vice president of federal affairs for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and chief of staff to US Senator Arlen Specter.
Jay Romans
Senior Vice President, People
Jay Romans is senior vice president of people for Waste Management and has more than 30 years of experience. Romans joins the company's senior leadership team from the St. Joe Company, a real estate development company. Before that he was senior vice president of human resources for Hughes Supply, the largest distributor of supplies to builders and contractors. Romans received his bachelor of science degree from Kent State University and a master of science from Texas A&M University.
Carlton Yearwood
Vice President, Business Ethics and Chief Diversity Officer
Carlton Yearwood is vice president for Waste Management. Yearwood is responsible for leading the company's business ethics and diversity strategy. Those responsibilities include: EEO/AAP compliance, ethics and diversity/inclusion education, and strategic alliances with external organizations and associations. Prior to joining WM, Yearwood was managing director of diversity for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Previously, he was director of diversity for The Allstate Insurance Company.
Cherie C. Rice
Vice President, Finance and Treasurer
Cherie Rice is vice president, finance & treasurer for Waste Management. Rice has been with Waste Management since November 1985 and has been in her current role since January 2004. During her 20-year career with the company, she worked her way up through the field operations, finance and accounting ranks, spending several years in field financial positions. Prior to joining Waste Management, Rice worked for Tektronix, Inc. as a financial analyst.
