Sheila Bair has had a long and distinguished career in government, academia, and finance. Twice named by Forbes Magazine as the second most powerful woman in the world, 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 efforts to protect bank depositors and homeowners during the crisis, she received the Kennedy Library’s Profiles in Courage Award, and was named “the little guy’s protector in chief” by Time Magazine. 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 the student debt crisis, as well as author of the NY Times Best Seller, Bull by the Horns, her 2012 memoir of the financial crisis.

Ms. Bair currently serves on a number of corporate governing boards, including Fannie Mae (on which she is the chair), Bunge Ltd., and Lion Electric, and on the International Advisory Board to the Santander Group. She also serves on the board of Paxos, a blockchain technology trust company, and as an advisor to several fintech startups. Additionally, Ms. Bair is a member of the Eminent Persons Group advising the IFRS Foundation on the creation of a Sustainability Standards Board. She is the founding chair of the Systemic Risk Council, which advocates for financial stability; a senior adviser to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation on financial issues confronting young people; and a founding director of the Volcker Alliance, established by former Federal Reserve Board chairman Paul Volcker to build trust in government.