{"id":699902,"date":"2026-04-20T08:34:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=699902"},"modified":"2026-04-20T08:34:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:34:57","slug":"greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving decisions at Ford Motor Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simon School alumnus Greg Jorgensen \u201900S (MBA) on navigating risk, rapid change, and relationships in the automotive industry.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What was your first car?<\/p>\n

Greg Jorgensen lights up at the subject of cars, especially when reminiscing about his first Ford: a 2001 dark green Escape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember thinking it was the nicest, fanciest car with all this awesome technology\u2014the radio actually said what the name of the song was in scrolling LED lights,\u201d he says. \u201cI had really hit the big-time as an auto exec in my fancy new car!\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, he\u2019s no longer just driving Ford vehicles. Instead, he\u2019s helping steer the financial direction of one of the world\u2019s most recognized automotive brands.<\/p>\n

As chief financial officer for North American ICE Trucks at Ford Motor Company, Greg Jorgensen must pivot quickly when the market swings from \u201cone big thing\u201d to the next. In fact, he has seen more changes in auto industry predictions in the last five years than in the previous two decades.<\/p>\n

First autonomous vehicles were expected to dominate the roadways. Then it was electric vehicles. Then it was the idea that drivers would rent or buy time in a car instead of owning one. Through it all, Jorgensen, who earned an MBA in finance in 2000 from the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a>\u2019s Simon Business School<\/a>, has had to know when to double down and when to shift focus\u2014at least in the short run.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes there are big dollars involved, but you have to be able to take the risk and move to something new,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Early lessons show up on the job<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorgensen traces his adaptability to Simon.<\/p>\n

He entered business school straight from earning a BS in civil engineering from Lehigh University. As a result, he was introduced to business case planning, financial scheduling, balance sheets, and other foundational components of \u201ceverything I do at Ford every day,\u201d says Jorgensen. His tenure at Ford and wholly owned subsidiaries of Ford has included more than a dozen finance analyst, supervisor, manager, and CFO positions since graduation. He has held his current role\u2014overseeing its lineup of trucks powered by traditional internal combustion engines (ICE)\u2014since 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom day one, I was ready to go. [The Simon professors] made us feel we were getting the tools to be successful, and failure wasn\u2019t an option. I can look back on that now and say that made a huge difference.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In his first year at Simon, being assigned to a group of students from various generations and countries exposed him to \u201cdiversity that helped us learn to deal with each other and deal with conflict when working together,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Those lessons, as well as Jorgensen\u2019s ability to shift course quickly, were reinforced by an unlikely source in the classroom\u2014an operations management simulation called the Soda Pop Game. Now computerized, but at the time played with small plastic bottles, Jorgensen and other students worked in teams to manage a soft drink factory while maximizing profitability. He remembers the game fondly: \u201cIt was a real-world way to apply what we were learning in the classroom, and it was fun to have some competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connections over calculations<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorgensen has made a career of working with numbers and excels at the financial discipline required to run a large-dollar, thin-margin business competitively. Yet he says his relationships with others have carried the most heft when making high-stakes decisions as a finance leader.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to learn how to navigate different perspectives because people can be very particular, he points out.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody has to approve spending money at the end of the day. But there are different ways to get there, which is why the people I work with are more important than any specific job,\u201d explains Jorgensen. He meets colleagues for lunch, builds relationships outside the office, and often handpicks those who work most closely with him. \u201cYou just have to keep in mind that everybody\u2019s at work trying to do their best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing less than success<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Despite the enormous consequences that could come from a miscalculated decision, Jorgensen doesn\u2019t waste time thinking about potential downsides at work. \u201cWe always talk about the upside,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s more about \u2018Is this going to be moderately successful or wildly successful?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Jorgensen credits that measured confidence to the personalized, hands-on interactions with professors at Simon who taught from real-world work experience. He recalls how this influenced stepping into his first role at Ford, without having any of his own practical insight: \u201cFrom day one, I was ready to go. They made us feel we were getting the tools to be successful, and failure wasn\u2019t an option. I can look back on that now and say that made a huge difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

A non-negotiable standard<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jorgensen has come a long way since that first Ford Escape. These days, he cruises in a 1964\u00bd Mustang convertible\u2014a nod to both his personal passion and the industry he helps shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cStaying motivated is easy when you like your job,\u201d he says, adding that passion is a non-negotiable for those wanting to create meaningful change in their industry<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeas come quicker,\u201d he continues. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to make an impact when you\u2019re just going through the motions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simon School alumnus Greg Jorgensen \u201900S (MBA) on navigating risk, rapid change, and relationships in the automotive industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1102,"featured_media":699942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[42,10406],"class_list":["post-699902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-alumni","tag-simon-business-school"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDriving decisions at Ford Motor Company<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Simon Business School alumnus Greg Jorgensen \u201900S (MBA) on navigating risk, rapid change, and relationships in the automotive industry.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Driving decisions at Ford Motor Company\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Simon Business School alumnus Greg Jorgensen \u201900S (MBA) on navigating risk, rapid change, and relationships in the automotive industry.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-20T12:34:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-NewsCenter_Greg-Jorgensen-1200x630.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robin L. Flanigan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robin L. Flanigan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Robin L. Flanigan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e7bfea44905c3ad0b90ab69562a5a14b\"},\"headline\":\"Driving decisions at Ford Motor Company\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-20T12:34:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":883,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/fea-NewsCenter_Greg-Jorgensen.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"alumni\",\"Simon Business School\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Campus & Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/\",\"name\":\"Driving decisions at Ford Motor Company\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/fea-NewsCenter_Greg-Jorgensen.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-20T12:34:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e7bfea44905c3ad0b90ab69562a5a14b\"},\"description\":\"Simon Business School alumnus Greg Jorgensen \u201900S (MBA) on navigating risk, rapid change, and relationships in the automotive industry.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/fea-NewsCenter_Greg-Jorgensen.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/fea-NewsCenter_Greg-Jorgensen.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"ROAD TO SUCCESS: Jorgensen credits the Simon School with teaching him the foundational components of \u201ceverything I do at Ford every day.\u201d (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \\\/ Samantha Castronova)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Driving decisions at Ford Motor Company\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e7bfea44905c3ad0b90ab69562a5a14b\",\"name\":\"Robin L. Flanigan\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/rflanigan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Driving decisions at Ford Motor Company","description":"Simon Business School alumnus Greg Jorgensen \u201900S (MBA) on navigating risk, rapid change, and relationships in the automotive industry.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Driving decisions at Ford Motor Company","og_description":"Simon Business School alumnus Greg Jorgensen \u201900S (MBA) on navigating risk, rapid change, and relationships in the automotive industry.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2026-04-20T12:34:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-NewsCenter_Greg-Jorgensen-1200x630.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Robin L. Flanigan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Robin L. Flanigan","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/"},"author":{"name":"Robin L. Flanigan","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e7bfea44905c3ad0b90ab69562a5a14b"},"headline":"Driving decisions at Ford Motor Company","datePublished":"2026-04-20T12:34:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/"},"wordCount":883,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-NewsCenter_Greg-Jorgensen.jpg","keywords":["alumni","Simon Business School"],"articleSection":["Campus & Community"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/","name":"Driving decisions at Ford Motor Company","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-NewsCenter_Greg-Jorgensen.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-20T12:34:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e7bfea44905c3ad0b90ab69562a5a14b"},"description":"Simon Business School alumnus Greg Jorgensen \u201900S (MBA) on navigating risk, rapid change, and relationships in the automotive industry.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-NewsCenter_Greg-Jorgensen.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-NewsCenter_Greg-Jorgensen.jpg","width":2000,"height":1200,"caption":"ROAD TO SUCCESS: Jorgensen credits the Simon School with teaching him the foundational components of \u201ceverything I do at Ford every day.\u201d (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ Samantha Castronova)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/greg-jorgensen-cfo-ford-motor-company-699902\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Driving decisions at Ford Motor Company"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e7bfea44905c3ad0b90ab69562a5a14b","name":"Robin L. Flanigan","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/rflanigan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699902"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":699952,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699902\/revisions\/699952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}