Long-time 3M chief sustainability officer retires

3M Chief Sustainability Officer Gayle Schueller stepped down in early July after a 34-year career with the company. One of her team members, Amanda Yates, was promoted as her replacement.

Schueller, who was a senior vice president with 3M, announced her “graduation” in a LinkedIn post shortly before the U.S. holiday weekend. 

Schueller, with degrees are in physics and materials science, held numerous positions in research and development, design and commercial strategy before being named CSO in 2018.

“Two lessons stand out,” Schueller wrote in her farewell post: “At the end of the day it’s all about people. The greatest impact is when innovation, operational excellence, business performance and purpose come together.”

Under Schueller, 3M adopted a “sustainability value commitment” for every product released after 2019. For example, a product might contain materials substitutions or be manufactured differently to reduce a customer’s greenhouse gas emissions footprint.

“This was an intentional choice that shift investment in favor of greater sustainability, allowing us to transform our business by transforming our products,” she wrote.

Examples from 3M’s 2026 global impact report, published June 1, include new film technology that reduces the temperature of steel roofs in direct sunlight, saving on energy for cooling; and new optical models that cut the amount of energy needed by laptop computer displays.  

Schueller’s successor, Amanda Yates, joined 3M in April 2013 as a corporate brand strategist and was named senior director of global sustainability in August 2021. 

Her undergraduate degree was in environmental science, and her first job was as a specialist for SeaWorld Orlando. “I’m deeply grateful for the chance to continue this work in a role that feels both meaningful and humbling, at a company that believes in the power of science, innovation and long-term impact,” Yates said in a LinkedIn post about her promotion.