Jim Baldwin ’83 Elected to W&L Board of Trustees
Jim Baldwin, executive vice president and general counsel for Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., Dallas, was elected to Washington and Lee University’s Board of Trustees on Feb. 12, at the board’s winter meeting.
Baldwin holds a B.A. in English from Washington and Lee (1983, cum laude) and a J.D. from Southern Methodist University (1986).
At Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (DPS), Baldwin oversees all legal issues for the company, and has played a key role in the company’s growth, major acquisitions and restructurings. He was involved in the spin-off of DPS from London-based Cadbury Schweppes plc as a publicly traded company in 2008. Previously, he played a central role in consolidating the operations of Snapple Beverage Corp., Mott’s Inc. and Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc. into Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, as well as the subsequent acquisition of Dr Pepper/Seven-Up Bottling Group and several other bottling and distribution businesses. He also helped lead the acquisition of several of DPS’s leading brands.
Baldwin joined the company in 1997 as assistant general counsel, where he supported company initiatives to strengthen the company’s bottling network and route to market. The following year, he was promoted to general counsel for Mott’s Inc., in Stamford, Connecticut, where he oversaw all legal aspects of the Mott’s business. In June 2002, he relocated to Dallas to head up the legal department at Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc. as senior vice president and general counsel. He was promoted to his current role a year later. Prior to DPS and Cadbury Schweppes, Baldwin was a partner in the Dallas office of the Houston-based law firm of Hutcheson & Grundy. He began his law career with the firm of Berman, Mitchell, Yeager and Gerber.
Baldwin has served the Dallas community as a member and past president of the Dallas Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and he is on the Law School Advisory Board of Southern Methodist University.
Baldwin has served Washington and Lee in many capacities, including as class agent, member of his reunion committee, member of the Dallas Alumni Chapter, interviewer for the Alumni Admissions Program, alumni career mentor and a member of the Williams School Board of Advisors. While a student, he belonged to Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He lives in Dallas with his wife, Susan, and their daughters, Marie (a member of W&L’s Class of 2019) and Sarah.
