Background
Deborah Chase Hitch was born on November 12, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Edward Franklin "Frank" Hitch and Gretchen Luise Cloos, the third of four children.
Deborah Chase Hitch was born on November 12, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Edward Franklin "Frank" Hitch and Gretchen Luise Cloos, the third of four children.
She graduated from Birmingham Seaholm High School in Birmingham, Michigan, and attended Michigan State University for two years before returning home due to financial difficultiesand receiving a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Walsh College in 1977.
Hopkins started her career at Ford Tractor as a financial analyst evaluating costs for various tractor models. From there she moved to Burroughs, again in finance. The firm later merged with Sperry to become Unisys.
After 13 years at Unisys, as Corporate Controller and General Manager of Global Services, she became General Auditor of General Motors, eventually moving to Switzerland as Chief Financial Officer of General Motors Europe.
From 1998 to 2000, she was Chief Financial Officer for The Boeing Company, Hopkins then moved to Lucent Technologies as Chief Financial Officer. Within 18 months, the company lost 75% of its market capitalization.
She then worked briefly with the management consulting firm, Marakon Associates. She joined in 2003 as Head of Strategy, later becoming the firm"s Chief Operations & Technology Officer in 2005, and a senior advisor to the Global Investment Bank.
In 2008, she became the first-ever Chief Innovation Officer, in the firm"s 200-year history.
She also serves as Chairman of Venture Capital Initiatives seeking investment opportunities that support and enhance her mission. Citi Ventures Service &.