Pearce, Harry J.
Harry J. Pearce served vice chairman for the General Motors Corporation from January 1, 1996 to May 25, 2001. In total, he spent 16 years at GM.
Prior to joining GM, Pearce had been a senior partner in the firm of Pearce & Durick of Bismarck, N.D. In that capacity, he represented GM and other industrial companies nationwide in a variety of product liability cases over a period of 15 years.
He joined General Motors as associate general counsel in October 1985, assuming responsibility for all product litigation and product safety matters worldwide. From May 1987 to August 1994, Pearce was general counsel with responsibility for GM's Legal Staff, and was elected GM executive vice president on November 2, 1992.
Pearce was elected to the GM Board of Directors as vice chairman on January 1, 1996. In this position, Pearce had responsibility for GM's non-automotive businesses, including HUGHES, Allison Transmission Division, Electro-Motive Division and GM Defense; the Public Policy Center; the Office of the Secretary; and the Enterprise Activities Group.
He retired from GM in 2001 to accept the position of chairman of Hughes Electronics Corporation. In his new capacity, Pearce led the activities of the GM subsidiary, including HUGHES' consideration of strategic restructuring alternatives. He served in this capacity until 2004. After leaving Hughes, Pearce was elected chairman of the board for Nortal Networks Corporation in June of 2005 and currently holds this position.