Our Leadership

Dr. Susan Hakkarainen is Chair of the Board and CEO of Lutron Electronics. She began her career at Lutron as an engineer before quickly moving into international assignments, and then more senior roles. She led and created growth trajectories for domestic and global business units, ran the product design group, and was promoted to CMO, where she led Lutron’s digital transformation, launching the company’s entry into social media, creating an electronic tools group, and establishing the company’s user experience unit.

Susan built Lutron’s consumer marketing function and developed the foundational work for launching Lutron’s International Business in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. As Vice President of International Marketing, she developed business opportunities, channels, and markets worldwide.

As a graduate of Cornell University, Susan received BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering. She also earned a PhD in Applied Plasma Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Susan is on the boards of the Wolfsonian-FIU Museum and Asia Society and on the Economic & Community Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. She is a trustee of the Eisenhower Fellowships.

Ed Blair is President of Lutron Electronics. He oversees the company's global operations, with overall responsibility for achieving sales, profits, and balance sheet objectives.  He also serves on Lutron’s Board of Directors.

Ed’s 27-year career at Lutron started with assignments in engineering, human resources, sales, and marketing, experiences that led to senior leadership roles, including Vice President and General Manager of the Commercial Systems and Window Systems Business Units, Senior Vice President of the Residential Systems Business Unit, and Executive Vice-President. He holds more than 95 US patents in the areas of design, utility, and system development.

As President, Ed led the company to record profits in recent years and orchestrated Lutron’s 2018 acquisition of Texas-based Ketra, the leading manufacturer of human-centric lighting systems — the third company acquisition in Lutron’s history.

Ed received his BS in Mechanical Engineering and MBA from Lehigh University. He served on Lehigh University’s Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board and MBA Advisory Council, as well as the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation’s Gala in the Garden board. He currently serves on Lehigh University’s Dean’s Advisory Council and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Board of Directors.

Walter Peake is an Executive Vice President at Lutron Electronics. He also serves as Lutron’s General Counsel, Treasurer, and Secretary.

In addition to running the Corporate Secretarial function for the Board, he is responsible for Lutron-support functions, including Law, Compliance, Government Relations, Standards, Internal Audit, Treasury, Tax, Sustainability, Security, Real Estate, Facilities, and Environmental, Health and Safety.

Throughout his career at Lutron, Walter has been recognized for his innate ability to build functions and develop talent. He is also known for his creative approach to complex problems.

Walter joined Lutron in 2003 as the company’s first business lawyer. His contributions to the company include building the Law, Audit, Tax, Treasury, Compliance, and Sustainability functions. He drives change management and implements structural change in many areas of the company.

Walter earned an AB degree in Economics from Duke University (1987) and his JD degree from the Duke University School of Law (1990). He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, and Delaware.

Tom Ike is an Executive Vice President at Lutron Electronics focused on developing and growing the company’s business in North America. He serves on Lutron’s Senior Executive Board.

Tom joined Lutron in 1994 and has held the positions of Vice President of North American Sales, General Manager of the Commercial Systems Business Unit, and Vice President of Global Sales. 

In 2014, he became the Owner and Chief Executive Officer of Chelsea Lighting. In 2020, Tom successfully led the sale of Chelsea Lighting and continued as CEO of the company until rejoining Lutron in 2022.  

With over 30 years of lighting and lighting control experience, he is a speaker and panelist at conferences and events focused on sustainable design and construction and a member of the National Association of Electrical Distributors and ELECTRI International. Tom is a member of the Board of Trustees for the National Building Museum, the Policy Advisory Board of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, and the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Committee Board of Directors.

Tom earned a BA from Moravian University, where he serves on the Board of Trustees. A proud Greyhound, in 2012, he was inducted into the Moravian University Athletic Hall of Fame. Tom received post-graduate executive education at the Harvard Business School and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.  

Susana Josa is Senior Vice President —Human Resources at Lutron Electronics. Susana is responsible for leading, building, and developing Lutron’s global human resources function, as well as partnering with leaders throughout the organization to build our people capability for our future.

During her tenure, Susana has expanded the size and scope of the human resources department, led its digital transformation, and introduced enhanced tools and resources for Lutron global employees.

Prior to her current role, Susana led Lutron’s international sales and operations organization, where she focused on the launch of international products, and development of markets, and sales strategies in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. During this time, she also doubled Lutron’s business in China, helped create the European hospitality market, and developed a new shades business model.

Susana has a passion for personnel development and has taught in post-graduate programs at Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Mexico) and Temple University. She is the former chair of the Intelligent Lighting Systems (ILS) Working Group within Lighting Europe, Europe’s professional lighting association.

Susana earned her BS in engineering and energy technologies from Polytechnic University of Catalonia and an MBA from the University of Navarra’s IESE Business School.