COLUMBUS, Ind. — Pamela Carter, president Cummins Distribution Business has been recognized with an award named in her honor. The Pamela L. Carter award was created by Inside Counsel magazine to recognize former corporate general counsels who have gone on to lead a business unit at a large public or private company.
The award, given for the first time on May 24, was part of Inside Counsel’s Transformative Leadership awards program. The program recognizes women who have risen to leadership positions in the legal profession, as well as the law firms and individuals who have been exceptional in their support of women in the profession.
Nine individuals and one law firm were honored by Inside Counsel. The award in Carter’s name was given to Rose Ann Scanlon, executive director, commercial operations, for the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Inside Counsel said it chose Carter to be the namesake for the award in recognition of her ability to “achieve what very few can conceive” and for her “lifelong commitment to success.”
The magazine also cited Carter’s history of community involvement that goes back to the start of the U.S. Civil Rights movement, when she worked as a community organizer and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Carter joined Cummins as general counsel in 1997 after a distinguished career in private legal practice and as attorney general for the state of Indiana from 1993-1997, where she was the first African-American woman in the country to be elected to that position.
In 2000, Carter became general manager of Fleetguard (known today as Cummins Filtration). She became president of Cummins Filtration in 2005 and moved into her current role in December 2007. Throughout her career at Cummins, Carter has served as a role model and mentor to many women across the company, Cummins noted.
“Having this award named after me is humbling and very special,” Carter said. “I hope it says to women everywhere that they should set high goals for what they want to achieve, and that all things are possible with hard work and a commitment to family, community and business excellence.”