Tim Lindsey

For over 35 years, Dr. Tim Lindsey has helped hundreds of organizations increase their effectiveness through improved sustainability performance in their processes, products, and systems.

He is an accomplished program and project manager with experience in multiple sectors, including energy, infrastructure, mining, manufacturing, construction, transportation, biofuels, agriculture, food processing, chemical processing and electronics.

Dr. Lindsey is an internationally recognized expert regarding the use of sustainability principles to drive innovation. He served as Caterpillar’s first Global Director of Sustainability from 2012 to 2016 where he successfully championed the company’s transformational change to recognize sustainability as their 5th core value. During this transformation, he worked closely with various business units to implement sustainability principles throughout the corporate value chain. This included corporate roles (research, product development, human resources, accounting, strategy and risk) and operational functions (supply chain, manufacturing, quality, logistics, dealerships and customer operations).

Prior to his Caterpillar career, Dr. Lindsey spent 20 years at the University of Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), where he developed and led their applied research, education and outreach efforts. In roles there, he worked with hundreds of companies and communities to develop and implement more sustainable processes, products, and systems through improvements in materials, devices, machinery, methods, chemistries, and energy sources.

Prior to ISTC, Dr. Lindsey was with Exxon for 7 years in Wyoming at one of the world’s largest mining and energy processing facilities. He served in roles ranging from Environmental Engineer and Reclamation Manager to Safety Director and Senior Project Manager supervising the activities of 40 contractors and over 1,000 personnel.

Dr. Lindsey has authored multiple publications on sustainable business innovation and in 2018, his book titled “Headwinds of Opportunity: A Compass for Sustainable Innovation” was published by Routledge and received the Silver Axiom Business Book Award in the category of Sustainability. He also holds 3 US patents, regarding industrial fluids management and water purification.

He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Environmental Engineering from Southern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois.