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Chris Whelan was promoted to her current role in May 2012. She has more than 30 years of communications experience in the electric and natural gas industry and currently oversees media relations, internal communications, branding, advertising, customer and digital communications, events, graphic design and web strategy, as well as corporate responsibility and community affairs and the LG&E and KU Foundation.

She joined LG&E in 1995 after more than six years at Texas Gas Transmission Corporation. In her time at LG&E and KU, she has held several leadership roles including a 15-month expat assignment at Powergen in the U.K. where she managed the brand and internal communications and new media functions. When E.ON AG announced plans to acquire Powergen, Whelan was promoted to manage merger communications strategies with the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. Upon her return to the U.S., she was named manager of Strategic, International and External Communications and served as the primary liaison for international communications activities and communications issues related to key business initiatives.

Whelan was promoted to director of Communications in 2007 and oversaw the internal and external communications functions. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism with a concentration in history and political science.

Whelan was the 2013 chair of the Kentucky Derby Festival, after holding various leadership positions on the festival board. She is a past president of the St. Joseph Children’s Home board, chair of the Kentucky Derby Museum board, chair-elect of Leadership Louisville, a board member of the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation, and a member of The Fillies Inc., Utility Communicators International and a 2009 Bingham Fellows graduate.