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In an industry dominated by men, Mary Barra has officially come out on top. The executive has risen in the automobile industry from humble beginnings as an intern to heading General Motor’s human resources department to their global product development chief. And now she’ll be joining the group of 23 women currently leading Fortune 500 companies when she takes over as CEO of GM. It’s a position that arguably makes her the most powerful female CEO in America, which is also more impressive considering Barra is the first woman to be at the head of a major automaker.
Barra, 51, is a Michigan native who is married with two kids. She has a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University. Most notably, Barra led the development of seventh-generation Corvette models, which were critically acclaimed. Barra had some stiff competition for the position. She was picked over GM executives Mark Reuss and Dan Ammann.
Click here to see the full profile on Mary Barra and look at the direction she plans to take General Motors during her lead as CEO.
