KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas graduates are among the top five women on Forbes magazine’s world’s 100 most powerful women list released yesterday. A third Jayhawk alumna is on the list as well.

At No. 2 is Sheila Bair, chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Bair is a native of Independence and earned a bachelor’s in philosophy in 1975 and a law degree in 1978, both from KU. She was sworn in as chair of the FDIC in June 2006, having previously served on the organization’s Advisory Committee on Banking Policy.

At No. 4 is Cynthia Carroll, the first woman CEO of Anglo American, one of the world’s largest independent mining companies. Carroll earned a master’s degree in geology at KU in 1982 before earning a master’s of business administration at Harvard University.

New to the list this year at 56 is U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the former Kansas governor who earned a master’s degree in public administration at KU in 1980.

In previous years, a fourth Jayhawk, Linda Zarda Cook, was on the list at 43 when she was executive director of gas and power for Royal Dutch Shell. She has since stepped down from that position. Cook, a Shawnee native, earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from KU in 1980.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel once again tops the list, which is available at the Forbes Web site.