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Mike O'Donnell is executive vice president and chief financial officer of NiSource Inc. His responsibilities include the company's corporate finance, treasury, controller, accounting, corporate tax, financial planning and corporate planning functions.
O'Donnell, who has more than 30 years of experience as a financial manager in the energy industry, began his career with Columbia Gas System in 1971 as a financial analyst. While with Columbia, he held positions of increasing responsibility including director of finance, vice president of finance, executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Columbia distribution companies and assistant chief financial officer of Columbia Gas System.
He was elected chief financial officer of Columbia Energy Group in 1993 and held that position until NiSource acquired Columbia in November 2000. Concurrent with the acquisition, O'Donnell was named executive vice president and chief financial officer of NiSource.
O'Donnell has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital raising activities, asset management, rating agency activities, bank relations and rate case testimony as a rate of return witness. He managed the financial aspects of the Columbia Gas bankruptcy and played an important role in the NiSource/Columbia transaction both before and after the effective date of the merger.
O'Donnell serves on the Audit Committee and Board of Directors of Energy Insurance Mutual and the Investment Committee of the Legacy Foundation in Northwest Indiana. He is a member of the Audit Committee and Management Committee of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad. He also is a member of Financial Executives International, American Gas Association, Beta Gamma Sigma and Omicron Delta Epsilon.
A native of Philadelphia, O'Donnell earned a bachelor's degree with honors in economics from Temple University and won the school's Economics Award. He spent two years in the U.S. Army and served one year in Vietnam with the 9th Infantry Division. O'Donnell is based at NiSource's corporate headquarters in Merrillville, Ind. | 