Sheila Bair will discuss her career path, from bank teller to FDIC chair to the 28th president of Washington College, in a President’s Forum on Nov. 4 at 5:15 p.m. in the Gibson Center for the Arts’ Hotchkiss Recital Hall. Co-sponsored by the College’s Office of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving and the Center for Career Development, the event is free and open to the public.
The forum is part of a larger event, LEAD: A Women’s Leadership Symposium, aimed at helping Washington College students make critical connections for internships, graduate school placement, and jobs. Panels of WC alumnae will share their success stories with students before Bair presents her own in an interview with Ann Horner ’80, a vice chairman of the College’s Board of Visitors and Governors and the former director of Borne Leisure. Bair will take questions from students at the end of her talk.
Bair became president of Washington College on August 1, 2015, after a remarkable career in government and public service.Appointed to the FDIC by President George W. Bush in 2006, Bair led the agency skillfully for a five-year term during one of the nation’s most challenging periods. One of the first officials to warn about the oncoming subprime mortgage debacle, she worked relentlessly to represent the interests of homeowners, bank customers, and taxpayers as the crisis played out, prompting TIME magazine to label her “the little guy’s protector-in-chief.” She was awarded a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, and Forbes twice named her the second most powerful woman in the world.
Before joining the FDIC, she taught financial regulatory policy at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She subsequently served as a senior adviser to the Pew Charitable Trusts. She founded and serves as chair emerita of the Systemic Risk Council, a public-interest group that monitors the implementation of financial reforms.
“Study after study shows that the inclusion of women in leadership positions improves a range of outcomes in both the public and private sectors,” says Christine Wade, associate professor of political science and international studies, and the event’s emcee. “But we know that girls and young women are less likely to think of themselves as leaders or be encouraged to enter leadership positions, and have fewer mentors who are women. Programs like LEAD are designed to help young women overcome these barriers.”
“We’re putting experts in front of students, to inspire and help,” says Jenny Hutton, WC alumni volunteer coordinator and organizer of the event. “Seeing someone who’s ‘made it,’ and being able to follow their example, is amazing.”
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