LOUISVILLE, Ky. – September 14, 2026 – GE Appliances, a Haier company, President and CEO Kevin Nolan has been named to the 2026 Thinkers50 Leaders50, a biennial list recognizing 50 exceptional leaders from organizations around the world.
Unlike rankings based on company size, revenue or media profile, Leaders50 draws its nominations experts, scholars and authors who study leadership and help define contemporary management thinking.
The 2026 list includes Nolan alongside trailblazers such as Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, NVIDIA President and CEO Jensen Huang, General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra, and many other leaders making an impact across industries.
Thinkers50 evaluates leaders based on their organizational impact, economic contribution and social purpose, as well as leadership style, development of others, adaptability and long-term vision.
Nolan, a career engineer with more than 35 years at GE and GE Appliances, has helped lead a major transformation of the company and its approach to innovation, manufacturing and serving consumers.
A longtime advocate for putting ideas into action, Nolan conceived and co-founded FirstBuild in 2014, creating an open co-creation community and microfactory that changed how GE Appliances develops new products. In 2023, he opened CoCREATE in his hometown of Stamford, Connecticut, combining manufacturing, design, education and community collaboration under one roof.
His leadership has also helped drive a significant expansion of GE Appliances’ U.S. manufacturing operations. Since 2016, the company has committed more than $6.5 billion to its U.S. operations, including a five-year, $3 billion investment plan announced in 2025 to expand manufacturing, modernize plants and bring more production to the United States.
“The challenges facing the world, organizations, and individuals are enormous,” said Des Dearlove, co-founder of Thinkers50. “Leaders50 shines a light on remarkable leaders who are making a real impact in the world.”
The 2026 Leaders50 will be honored at the Thinkers50 London Summit later this year.
View the full 2026 Leaders50 at Thinkers50.com.
About GE Appliances
At GE Appliances, a Haier company, we come together to make good things, for life. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, we are a leading U.S. manufacturer of home appliances with 15,500 team members nationwide. Our products can be found in half of all U.S. homes, and we’re proud to be rated America’s #1 Appliance Company. We manufacture and sell products under the Monogram™, Café™, GE Profile™, GE®, Haier™ and Hotpoint™ brands. Our operations support 98,000 additional American jobs, and as America’s Most Invested Appliance Company, we’ve committed an industry-leading $6.5 billion to U.S. manufacturing since 2016 alone. We are deeply committed to the communities where we live and work, passionate about getting closer to our product users to understand their needs and driven by the belief that there’s always a better way.