Barbara Franklin

Barbara Hackman Franklin is President and Chief Executive Officer of Barbara Franklin Enterprises, a private international consulting firm headquartered in Washington, DC. She is an advocate for and adviser to American companies doing business in international markets, notably China, and is an expert on corporate governance, auditing, and financial reporting practices.

As the 29th U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the administration of President George H.W. Bush,^[1] she achieved the goal of increasing American exports, with emphasis on market-opening initiatives in China, Russia, Japan and Mexico. Her mission to China in 1992 normalized commercial relations with that country and removed one of the sanctions – the ban on ministerial contact – that the U.S. had imposed following the events at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Secretary Franklin has served on the board of directors of fourteen public companies and is currently a member of the board of Aetna, Inc. and The Dow Chemical Company. She is a trustee of three funds in the American Funds family of mutual funds and a member of the International Advisory Board of Lafarge, Paris, France. She has chaired a variety of board committees and currently chairs the Audit Committee at Dow and the Nominating & Governance Committee at Aetna. She has received the John J. McCloy Award for her "outstanding contributions to audit excellence" and has been recognized as a Director of the Year by the National Association of Corporate Directors, the Outstanding Director Exchange (ODX), and by Directorship as "one of the 100 most influential people in corporate governance". Franklin is a regular commentator on international economic matters and corporate governance on the PBS Nightly Business Report.

Franklin is chairman of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and chairman emerita of the Economic Club of New York. She is a director of the board of the US-China Business Council, The National Committee on United States – China Relations, the Atlantic Council, the Committee for Economic Development (CED), The Richard Nixon Foundation and the National Symphony Orchestra. She is a member of the Advisory Council of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Foreign Policy Association, the Japan Society, the International Women’s Forum and member emeritus of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Advisory Council. She is a former trustee of the Pennsylvania State University.

Prior to her service as Secretary of Commerce, Franklin’s career included corporate, governmental, academic, and entrepreneurial activities. In 1984, she founded Franklin Associates, a management consulting firm, and served as its president until 1992. She was also a Senior Fellow at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania through the 1980’s. Franklin served as one of the original Commissioners and first Vice Chair of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (1973-79).^[2] She led the first White House effort to recruit women for high-level government jobs as a staff assistant to President Nixon, an effort which resulted in tripling the number of women in those positions (1971-73). Earlier, Franklin was assistant vice president at Citibank and manager of environmental analysis at the Singer Company. She served four terms on the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, by appointments of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and as Alternate Representative to the 44th United Nations General Assembly by appointment of President George H. W. Bush. Altogether, Franklin has served five U.S. Presidents and, in 2006, received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service.

Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to Arthur A. and Mayrne M. (née Haller), Franklin graduated with distinction from the Pennsylvania State University. She was one of the first women graduates of Harvard Business School from which she has received an Alumni Achievement Award. Her career began at the Singer Company, 1964–1968.^[2] She has received numerous honorary degrees, honors, and awards and is a frequent speaker, author, and commentator. She is married to Wallace Barnes, retired chairman and CEO of Barnes Group, Inc. They reside in Washington, DC and Bristol, CT.

References

External Links

• A Few Good Women... The Honorable Barbara Hackman Franklin
• Barbara Franklin Enterprises
• Barbara Franklin interviewed on Conversations from Penn State