William C. Lane is a leading business advocate for free trade and global engagement in Washington D.C. He has been with Caterpillar since 1975 and has held various leadership positions in Washington since 1993. Mr. Lane is a chairman of the U.S. Latin America Trade Coalition, a group that led the advocacy effort in support of the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Colombia and Panama. He is co-president of the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign and a leader of the business effort to provide Russia with Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR). From 2005 to 2007, Speaker Hastert appointed Bill Lane to the HELP Commission, a presidential committee examining the effectiveness of U.S. foreign aid. He received his B.S. and M.A. degrees from Penn State and attended the University of Cologne in Germany. He is a 2011 Penn State alumni fellow and an adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He was also a certified management accountant.