Martha Wyrsch is president and chief executive officer of Duke Energy Gas Transmission, Duke Energy's natural gas transmission, storage and distribution business. She is a member of the Expanded Executive Committee.

Wyrsch joined Duke Energy in September 1999 as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary for Duke Energy Field Services. She was named senior vice president and general counsel of energy transmission and distribution in August 2001, where she was accountable for Duke Energy's franchised electric businesses, natural gas pipeline businesses and mid-stream natural gas businesses. In addition, Wyrsch had responsibility for the legal and regulatory issues related to Duke Energy's mergers and acquisitions as well as for significant litigation and dispute resolution matters. She was named senior vice president of legal affairs in February 2003. On Jan. 1, 2004, she was named group vice president, general counsel and secretary with responsibility for the company's legal affairs and compliance activities, as well as audit, security, business continuity, ethics and insurance. She was named to her current position on March 1, 2005.

Prior to joining the company, Wyrsch was vice president, general counsel and secretary of KN Energy, Inc. (now known as Kinder Morgan, Inc.), a New York Stock Exchange-traded integrated energy company, from 1991 to 1999. She was KN Energy's chief legal officer and corporate secretary, and she served as a member of the Executive Management Committee.

Before joining KN Energy, Wyrsch was an associate with the law firm Davis, Graham & Stubbs, handling mergers, acquisitions, securities and finance from 1986 to 1991. From 1980 to 1983, she was a legislative assistant to Senator Alan K. Simpson of Wyoming in the area of banking, finance, transportation and public works.

The Laramie, Wyo., native received a juris doctor degree from George Washington University and earned a bachelor of arts degree in literature, with honors, from the University of Wyoming. She also completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

Wyrsch is a member of the American and Colorado Bar Associations and serves as a vice-chair of the American Bar Association Public Utility, Communication and Transportation Law Section. She is a member of the American Corporate Counsel Association and the legal sections of the American Gas Association, Edison Electric Institute and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. Wyrsch is also a member of the George Washington University Law School board of advisors and the board of directors for the Institute and School for Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming.

Wyrsch was born in 1958. She and her husband, Gerry, have a daughter and a son.