Our Leadership

Sheryl Palmer became the president and chief executive officer of Taylor Morrison in August 2007 after previously serving as executive vice president for the western region of Morrison Homes. Palmer leads a highly experienced Taylor Morrison leadership team in key North American markets. Palmer brings more than 20 years of experience to her position, including leadership in land acquisition, sales and marketing, development and operations management. She has spent most of her career in the Arizona, California and Nevada real estate markets, including eight years as division president responsible for operations at Blackhawk Corp., a builder of active adult communities based in northern California. In addition, she served with Pulte for more than five years, beginning in the Phoenix market and ultimately serving as Nevada area president, supervising all aspects of operations for its Del Webb and Pulte communities.

Steve Wethor was named president of Taylor Morrison's West Region in August 2007 after previously serving as the company's division president for Phoenix. He assumed chief financial officer responsibilities in July 2010. He is currently responsible for the development and execution of strategic, operational and financial business plans for the West Region, which includes the Phoenix, Southern California, Northern California and Denver markets. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Wethor spent 12 years with Pulte Homes/Del Webb and seven years with Deloitte & Touche. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of South Dakota and is a licensed (currently inactive) certified public accountant.

Lou Steffens joined Taylor Morrison as president of the company's East Region in January 2007. He is currently responsible for the development and execution of strategic, operational and financial business plans for the East Region, which includes the north Florida, west Florida, Houston and Austin markets. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Steffens spent four years at Beazer Homes, 10 years at Pulte Homes and three years at Coopers & Lybrand. Steffens has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Michigan State University and is a licensed (currently inactive) certified public accountant.

Brian Johnston was named regional president of Monarch in 2000 after previously serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer for the Canada region. His responsibilities include development and execution of strategic, operational and financial business plans for the Canada Region, which includes both low-rise and high-rise operations. Prior to joining Monarch in 1984, Johnston worked for Price Waterhouse. He holds a bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Toronto and is a Chartered Accountant. In addition, Johnston sits on the Board of Tarion Warranty Corporation, the government regulator of the homebuilding industry in Ontario.

Darrell Sherman joined Taylor Morrison as vice president and general counsel in June 2009. He is responsible for the company's legal affairs including transactions, governance, litigation and regulatory matters. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Sherman was general counsel at Centex for four years in the Southwest and Mountain States Regions and associate general counsel at Del Webb/Pulte for five years. Prior to joining the homebuilding industry, he was a finance and real estate attorney at the law firm of Snell & Wilmer in its Phoenix, Arizona office. He also served as an administrative law judge appointed by Arizona Governor Fife Symington in 1993. Sherman holds a B.A. degree in economics with university honors and a J.D. degree, both from Brigham Young University where he was an articles editor of the BYU Law Review. He is a member of the State Bar of Arizona.

Erik Heuser joined Taylor Morrison as director of business development in 2004 and was appointed vice president of land investments in 2007. His responsibilities include evaluation and risk assessment on all asset investments held and considered by the company. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Heuser ran a division for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, owned a small homebuilding entity, and held senior acquisition, institutional finance, and investment roles with PNC Mortgage, MetLife, and A.G. Edwards & Sons. Heuser has a bachelor's degree in finance from Illinois State University and a master's of business administration from the Keller Graduate School of Management.

Bob Witte joined Taylor Morrison as vice president and chief information officer in June 2004. His responsibilities include oversight of all enterprise-wide IT activities, including infrastructure and architecture, applications deployment, re-engineering business processes, networks, data center operations and user support. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Witte spent 17 years at General Electric, where he held the position of chief information officer for GE Nuclear Energy for three years and GE Wind Energy for two years. He has a bachelor's degree in management information systems from Syracuse University and a master's of business administration degree from Purdue University.

Katy Owen joined Taylor Morrison as vice president of human resources in June 2005. She is responsible for building human capital processes to enable the talent-base to accomplish business objectives and encourage new strategies, and for shaping Taylor Morrison's employment brand to support the attraction and retention of top talent. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Owen served as vice president of human resources for McKesson Corporation and Checkfree Corporation. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Georgia State University.

Graham Hughes was named vice president of sales and marketing for Taylor Morrison in July 2007. His responsibilities include promoting and maintaining the overall Taylor Morrison brand, developing strategies and marketing campaigns on a national level and creating a culture of best practice consistency in sales and marketing. Hughes previously served as vice president of sales and marketing for the West Region of Morrison Homes, beginning in the capacity in January 2007 after transferring to the United States from then parent company George Wimpey. Prior to that, Hughes spent two decades at George Wimpey in the United Kingdom, where he served as director of customer service and sales and marketing, as part of the executive team, for seven years.

Tawn Kelley joined Taylor Morrison as president of Taylor Morrison Home Funding and Mortgage Funding Direct Ventures in April 2009 after Taylor Morrison acquired Mortgage Funding Direct Ventures, owned by Kelley. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Kelley owned and operated Mortgage Funding Direct Ventures, which partnered with production home builders to create in-house mortgage subsidiaries. As managing member and owner since 2001, Taylor Morrison Home Funding expanded nationally and grew from mortgage brokerage to lender. Kelley is president and managing member for Mortgage Funding Direct Ventures. She has more than 24 years in the mortgage industry specializing in new construction financing working for NVR Mortgage and Wells Fargo Mortgage (formerly Norwest Mortgage).