Arvin F. Mueller (BS Mech Egr '65), former group vice president of Powertrain Operations at General Motors, was named the recipient of SAE International’s Edward N. Cole Award for Automotive Engineering Innovation in September 2010.
Mueller received the prestigious award for his lifetime of achievement in the global automotive industry. His leadership led to the establishment of General Motors’ Vehicle Development Process, which linked the cross-functional efforts of engineering and manufacturing.
Mueller served on GM’s North America Strategy Board, the Automotive Strategy Board, and the board of directors for the Saturn Corporation. He also was a member of the board of directors of the Fiat-General Motors Powertrain Joint Venture and for Isuzu Motors Limited, in which General Motors had an equity partnership.
He joined General Motors’ Chevrolet Motor Division in 1960. While there, he earned his bachelor’s degree from MSU.
In a career that spanned 40 years, Mueller held a variety of engineering positions with General Motors. In 1997, Mueller became group vice president for GM Powertrain, where he established an innovative global business management process based on closed-loop learning cycles, which is still in use today. He retired from General Motors in October 2000.
