In the automotive industry, the phrase ‘big three’ refers to a country’s three largest automobile manufacturers. In the United States they are General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler. Senior positions in these organisations have traditionally been male-dominated. When Mary Teresa Barra became CEO of General Motors in January, 2014, she became the first female CEO in the history of a ‘big three’ automaker.
Born in Oakland, US she lived in Michigan for much of her youth. She graduated from the General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) in 1985 with a B.Sc in electrical engineering and received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1990.
Barra started her career at General Motors at the age of 18 and has held a variety of engineering and administrative positions since then. In February 2008, she became Vice President of Global Manufacturing (Engineering) and Vice President of Global Human Resources in July 2009. Barra replaced Dan Akerson to assume the position of CEO in January 2014. She was listed 1st on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list in 2015 and 4th on Forbes Most Powerful Women list in 2018.
In April 2014, she was featured on the cover of Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Barra was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in February 2018 and was awarded the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute’s ‘Legend in Leadership Award’ in September 2018.
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