Our People: Lora Collins, Woman of Asphalt

Lora Collins is the Asphalt Value Chain Senior Director for Marathon Petroleum. She was recently named to the board of Women of Asphalt, a coalition to lead and inspire women in the asphalt industry. She’s eager to take on a broader role in the asphalt industry, connecting with women across the field.

Starting her career in science

Collins graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Ohio Northern University in 1991. She worked in research chemistry roles at Pfizer and Procter & Gamble for 16 years.

“I love data and technology,” said Collins. “I love to understand the full process of how things work. My initial career as a chemist was driven by my curiosity, love of data, and excitement for my research to potentially advance science and impact others.”

After many years as a research chemist, her career hit a crossroads. Her job was eliminated, and she chose to leverage her research and science experience for a different opportunity.

“Halfway through my working career, I literally started a new career,” said Collins. “My natural curiosity and love for learning something new every day really helped me.”

Working for Marathon Petroleum

In 2007, she joined Marathon Petroleum as a propane product manager. Collins has continued to work in various roles in the Marketing organization including brand district sales manager, asphalt technology manager, diesel pricing manager, coordinating staff manager, and wholesale marketing region manager. In October 2017, she began an assignment as asphalt region manager that expanded into her current role as asphalt value chain senior director.

“My natural curiosity and love for learning something new every day really helped me.”

“I’m excited every day to be part of a team that advances knowledge of asphalt production, blending, technology and application,” said Collins. “Working in the asphalt industry is rewarding as Marathon supplies high quality asphalt binder for our customers to construct asphalt pavements critical to U.S. infrastructure and economy.”

Marathon Petroleum is the largest asphalt producer in the U.S. and markets over 130 asphalt products from seven refineries. The company operates a fully integrated asphalt system that uses a mix of transportation methods and a network of 27 terminals across the country to safely store the asphalt for customers to access.

“I’m passionate about our work at Marathon,” said Collins. “Most people don’t know that 94% of all roads in the U.S. are paved with asphalt. Marathon is the largest U.S. producer of the asphalt binder, which is 5% of the pavement mixture. And asphalt is the most recycled product in the world.”

As her experience deepened, Collins became more involved with the asphalt industry. She currently serves on the boards of directors for Women of Asphalt and the Asphalt Institute Collins is also a chairperson for the Asphalt Institute Foundation.

“I’m so thankful for the opportunities I have been given,” said Collins. “I strive to continue learning and growing to support and develop future leaders at the company and champion expertise in the asphalt business.”