Gail J. McGovern (born 1952) became President and CEO of the American Red Cross on June 23, 2008. McGovern held top management positions at AT&T Corporation and Fidelity Investments. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Johns Hopkins University and the Board of Directors of DTE Energy.[1]
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Born in 1952 and raised as Gail J. Rosenberg in Springfield, New Jersey. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in quantitative sciences from Johns Hopkins University in 1974[2] and an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1987.[2]
She began at AT&T Corporation as a programmer and also worked in sales, marketing and management.[2] Eventually she became the executive vice president of the consumer markets division, the largest business unit, responsible for $26 billion in residential long distance service.[2] She held this role from 1997 to 1998.[3]
She joined Fidelity Investments in September 1998 as president of distribution and services.[2][3] Her department served 4 million customers with $500 billion in assets.[2]
She was recognized by Fortune magazine in 2000 and 2001 as one of the top 50 most powerful women in corporate America.[2]
She joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School in June 2002 where she taught marketing and consumer marketing to first and second year students.[2][3] McGovern was an adjunct faculty of the Harvard Business School.
She assumed the role of president and CEO of the American Red Cross on June 23rd, 2008,[2] replacing Mark W. Everson, a former IRS commissioner and becoming the seventh chief in seven years.[4] In June she joined a delegation of 30 community leaders organized by the United States Agency for International Development to visit China and those affected by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.[5] The focus of her work at the Red Cross has been to improve the image of the Red Cross brand and thereby increasing donations.[4]
She currently resides in Washington, DC with her husband and daughter. [2]