Sheila Bair has had a long and distinguished career in government, academia, and finance. She is perhaps best known as Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from 2006 to 2011, when she steered the agency through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. For her leadership of the FDIC, she received the JFK Library's Profiles in Courage Award and was twice named by Forbes Magazine as the second most powerful woman in the world. A former finance professor and college president, Ms. Bair has been nationally recognized for her innovative initiatives to make college more accessible and affordable. She is a frequent commentator and op-ed contributor on financial regulation and system stability, well as author of the NY Times Best Seller, Bull by the Horns, her 2012 memoir of the financial crisis.
Ms. Bair remains active on public policy issues through a number of nonprofit affiliations. She is a founding director of the Volcker Alliance, dedicated to excellence in public service; founding chair of the Systemic Risk Council; senior advisor to the Center for Financial Stability; and trustee of Economists for Peace and Security, a group of world-renowned economists and public servants. In addition to her nonprofit work, she serves on the boards of two publicly traded companies, Bunge LTD and Lion Electric, and as an advisor to Santander Group and Wealthfront. Her past boards include Thomson Reuters, Host Hotels, and Fannie Mae, where she served as the first woman chair.
Once named by Time Magazine as "the little guy's protector in chief," Ms. Bair is a passionate advocate for strong consumer protections in financial services and educating the public on financial basics, starting at an early age. She is the author of the Money Tales picture book series, as well as a book about the financial crisis for young adults, Bullies of Wall Street. She has received awards from the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP), the Council on Economic Education (CEE), the JumpStart Coalition, and Institute for Financial Literacy for her educational writings.