First black woman assembly plant manager named to run Ford's Avon Lake, OH, plant

Jet, Oct 10, 1994

Deborah Kent, who has been with Ford Motor Co. since 1987, has become the first Black woman to be named manager of a Ford assembly plant in the company's worldwide manufacturing system.

Ms. Kent, 41, had been manufacturing manager at the Wixom, MI, plant since last February. Before that she was manufacturing manager at the Chicago Assembly Plant.

In her new post as manager of the entire Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, she will oversee 3,508 employees and a $300 million yearly budget. The plant turns out 89 vehicles hourly and produces the Mercury Villager and Nissan Quest minivan.

Ms. Kent joined Ford in 1987 as an area manager at the Wixom plant and later held managerial posts at the Dearborn Assembly Plant. The St. Louis native has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Southern Illinois University and a master's in industrial psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. She also has attended executive development programs at Northwestern and Harvard Universities, and the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.