Mary Barra
Chairman & CEO
General Motors Company
Mary Barra was named Chief Executive Officer of General Motors effective January 15, 2014. Under her leadership, GM is driving to become the global industry leader in automotive design and technology, product quality and safety, customer care and business results. She is also a member of the GM Board of Directors.
Prior to her current position, Barra served as Executive Vice President, Global Product Development, Purchasing & Supply Chain since August 2013, and as Senior Vice President, Global Product Development since February 2011. In these roles, she was responsible for the design, engineering, program management and quality of GM vehicles around the world.
Previously, Barra served as GM Vice President, Global Human Resources; Vice President, Global Manufacturing Engineering; Plant Manager, Detroit Hamtramck Assembly; Executive Director of Competitive Operations Engineering; and in several engineering and staff positions.
In 1990, Barra graduated with a Masters in Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business after receiving a GM fellowship in 1988.
Barra began her career with GM in 1980 as a General Motors Institute (Kettering University) co-op student at the Pontiac Motor Division. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1985.
Barra serves on the General Dynamics Board of Directors. She serves as Vice Chair of the Kennedy Center’s Corporate Fund Board. She is a member of The Business Council and a member of the Board of Directors of the Detroit Economic Club. She is a member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council.
In 2012, Barra and her husband, Tony, chaired the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute’s 30th annual dinner, which raised nearly $1.7 million for cancer research.
In 2014, Barra was named to the Time 100, Forbes magazine named her one of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” and Fortune magazine placed her first on its list of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business.”
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