Global financial services firm, Morgan Stanley, has elected James Owens, chairman of Caterpillar, to the firm's board of directors, effective Jan. 1, 2011. He also will serve on the nominating and governance committee.

Owens served as chairman and CEO of Caterpillar from 2004 to June 2010 and is serving as chairman through October 2010. Throughout his nearly four decades at Caterpillar, Owens held numerous positions including group president, vice president and CFO, and President of Solar Turbines.

He is a member of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board; immediate past chairman of the Business Council; and a director at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC, as well as the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Owens currently serves on the boards of Alcoa and IBM Corporation.

His appointment will bring the size of the board to 13 members.

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