Association honors Susan Brennan with achievement award

The UNO Alumni Association bestowed its Citation for Alumni Achievement award upon 1991 UNO graduate Susan Brennan during the university’s May 2022 Commencement ceremony May 13 at Baxter Arena. Brennan is president and CEO of Romeo Power, a battery technology company based in Sunnyvale, California.

The Citation, inaugurated in 1949, is the association’s highest honor and the university’s oldest award. It encompasses career achievement, community service, business and professional engagement and fidelity to UNO. Brennan is the 185th graduate to receive the award.

Brennan, who graduated with an MBA from UNO, has held several high-level, operational, senior management positions during the past 30 years. She joined Romeo Power in 2021. The company creates energy-dense battery packs via custom solutions for the commercial vehicle industry.

Brennan came to Romeo from Bloom Energy, where she was COO for eight years. There she was responsible for all new product launch strategy and sales execution; operations; capacity management; global supply chain; purchasing; labor management; environment, health and safety strategy; compliance and government affairs. 

Prior to Bloom, Brennan spent five years with Nissan Motor Company, where she was the highest-ranking woman in operations as vice president of manufacturing. She ran what then was the largest automotive manufacturing plant in the world by volume. Its 10,000 employees produced more than $10 billion worth of vehicles annually exported to four continents. Brennan came to Nissan after nearly 14 years with Ford Motor Company, where she culminated her time as director of its global manufacturing business office.

To support future generations of technology manufacturing in the U.S., Brennan has created and supported organizations that encourage young women to pursue careers in math and science. She is founder and past president of the Southern Automotive Women’s Forum, a professional organization that promotes the personal and professional advancement of women in the automotive industry. She is also an ambassador for C3E, a DOE organization whose mission is to attract and retain women in the growing field of energy and propulsion. Brennan also has been a mentor and sponsor of Expanding Your Horizons (EYH), FIRST robotics, BEST robotics, the Boys & Girls Club and other organizations that encourage young people to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Brennan also has a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Illinois.  She grew up in Granite City, Illinois, and has two children.