KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Five Jayhawks are on a new list of the 100 most powerful women in the nation’s capital, according to Washingtonian magazine.

The magazine has compiled an annual list for 27 years to recognize women leaders in Washington from the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Other honorees this year include First Lady Michelle Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Find a good mentor who believes in you; dump friends — including boyfriends — who don’t,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the magazine, which published the latest list in its October edition. “Remember that trying and failing isn’t nearly as harmful as never trying at all.”

The University of Kansas graduates cited on the list are

Sheila Bair, chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. She was sworn in as chair of the FDIC in June 2006, having previously served on the organization’s Advisory Committee on Banking Policy. Forbes magazine has named her the second most powerful woman in the world. In the 1980s, she was research director, deputy counsel and counsel to then-Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan. She earned a bachelor’s in philosophy in 1975 and a law degree in 1978 from KU.

Elizabeth Broun, director, Smithsonian American Art Museum. She is responsible for the nation’s premier collection of American art and major exhibition, research, publication, education and new media program. She previously was director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery. Broun went to Washington after seven years as a curator and interim director at KU’s Spencer Museum of Art. She earned a bachelor’s degree in French and art history in 1968, a master’s degree in art history in 1969 and a doctorate degree in art history in 1976, all at KU.

Janet Murguía, president, National Council of La Raza, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. She previously worked at the White House from 1994 to 2000 as a top aide to President Clinton. After serving as a deputy campaign manager for the 2000 Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign, she was executive vice chancellor for university relations at KU for four years. Murguia has earned a law degree in 1985 and bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish in 1982 at KU.

Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Health and Human Services secretary. Before being tapped for President Obama’s cabinet this year, Sebelius was elected to two terms as governor of Kansas starting in 2002. Time magazine named her one of the nation’s top five governors in 2005 and this year was named to Forbes’ most powerful women in the world list. She previously was state insurance commissioner and a member of the legislature. Sebelius received a master’s in public administration in 1980 at KU.

Michele Stockwell, policy director, Office of the House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. She is a 1992 KU graduate in political science and Spanish. She previously was director of family and social policy at the Democratic Leadership Council and an aide to Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.

For the complete list, visit the Washingtonian's Web site.