James R. Jenkins
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Deere & Company
James R. Jenkins is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Deere & Company, a position he has held since March 2000. Jenkins is Chief Legal Officer for Deere & Company worldwide, with executive management responsibility for the Law, Patent, Center for Global Business Conduct, Public Affairs, Corporate Communications and Brand Management departments.
Before he joined Deere & Company, Jenkins was Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel at Dow Corning Corporation in Midland, Michigan. He served in a variety of leadership roles while at Dow Corning, including participation on the corporate executive, finance, trademark, and public policy committees, as well as the senior management team responsible for the resolution of the silicone breast implant controversy.
Jenkins is currently a Director of HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI), Muscatine, Iowa. He serves on the board of the American Arbitration Association, and was Chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel in 2005. Jenkins is a member of the Illinois and Michigan State Bars. He is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council, Inc., the Association of General Counsel, and the American Law Institute.
A native of the Chicago area, Jenkins received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Michigan. He served in the U.S. Army, including a year as an interrogation officer at the Combined Military Interrogation Center, Saigon, Vietnam, and was awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious service. He received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School. He also attended the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School.
