Mary Barra is the first woman to lead a major global automaker as CEO of General Motors.
GM announced Barra as Daniel Akerson’s successor in December 2013, and she became CEO in January 2014. She had spent her career inside GM, beginning as a co-op student and later holding senior roles in engineering, manufacturing, human resources, product development, purchasing, and supply chain.
Barra’s appointment was historic because GM is one of the world’s largest automakers and one of Detroit’s “Big Three.” The claim is sometimes overstated as meaning she was the first woman to run any automobile company anywhere; the more precise description is that she was the first female CEO of a Big Three automaker. She also became GM’s chair in 2016.
Her tenure included major safety recalls, electric-vehicle investment, autonomous-driving initiatives, and difficult restructuring decisions. Ursula Burns, Indra Nooyi, and Katharine Graham were prominent business leaders, but none was the first woman to lead GM or a Big Three automaker.