Current Position: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for CenterPoint Energy.

Gary is responsible for the following functions: accounting, treasury, risk management, tax, strategic planning, business development, emerging businesses, investor relations and information technology.

Previous Positions: Before beginning his career at CenterPoint Energy in 2001, Whitlock was vice president of Finance and CFO of Dow AgroSciences, a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. He started his career with Dow in 1972 at the company’s Texas operations in Freeport in the controllers organization. In 1981, he transferred to Dow’s global headquarters where he was responsible for the worldwide financial consolidation and management reporting. In 1984, he transferred to Dow Europe and served as the Finance Director in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where he was also responsible for Information Systems.

Whitlock returned to the U.S. in 1989 as Director of Financial Reporting and Analysis for Dow’s U.S. Area. In 1993, he was named North American Controller and a member of the North American Operating Board, and two years later was named a vice president for Dow North America. While at Dow, he served on the board of directors of various Dow entities.

Education and Accreditation: Whitlock is a Certified Public Accountant and received a bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from Sam Houston State University in 1972, where he was named a Distinguished Alumnus.

Affiliations and Honors: Whitlock is a member of the Texas Society of CPAs, American Institute of CPAs, Financial Executives International, President’s Circle at Sam Houston State University and the Indiana University Kelley School of Business Dean's Council. He also serves on the Board of Directors of St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, The Woodlands, and of KIOR, Inc., a next-generation renewable fuels company, where he is chairman of the Audit Committee.

Whitlock is a past board member of Texas Genco Holdings, Inc., which until December 2004 was an 81 percent-owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy and traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Personal: He lives in The Woodlands, Texas, and is married with two children and one granddaughter.