Sheila Bair
Sheila Bair is a globally recognized expert in finance, banking regulation, and economic policy, best known for serving as the 19th Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). During her tenure, she guided the agency through the global financial crisis, the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression, earning a reputation as one of the most influential financial regulators of her generation. Bair’s career spans senior leadership roles across government, academia, and financial institutions. Following her time at the FDIC, she served on numerous corporate boards and advisory councils, including as the first female Chair of the Board of Fannie Mae. She has also held key positions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the New York Stock Exchange and later joined academia as the Dean’s Professor of Financial Regulatory Policy at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Sheila Bair is the author of the New York Times bestseller Bull by the Horns, a firsthand account of navigating the financial crisis. She remains a prominent public voice on banking reform, financial stability, consumer protection, and the student debt crisis through media commentary and opinion writing.
Sheila Bair Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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19th Chair of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
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Dean’s Professor of Financial Regulatory Policy
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Senior Vice President for Government Relations
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Commissioner
Academic History
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J.D., Law
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B.A., Philosophy
CURRENT AFFILIATIONS
Founding Chair, Systematic Risk Council
Chair, Corporate Governance and Nominations Committee
Chair, Lion Electric
Senior Fellow, Center for Financial Stability
International Advisory Board, Santander Group
Senior Advisor, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Senior Advisor, Pew Charitable Trusts
Board Member, Bunge Ltd.
Board Member, RAND Corporation
FDIC LEADERSHIP
As Chair of the FDIC, Sheila Bair played a central role in stabilizing the U.S. banking system during the financial crisis.
Under her leadership, the FDIC managed widespread bank failures using industry-funded resources while maintaining public confidence in the financial system.
Bair spearheaded innovative emergency programs designed to restore liquidity and unfreeze credit markets, including temporary guarantees for bank debt and increased federal deposit insurance limits.
She also led resolution strategies that transferred failing banks to stronger institutions, while providing structured credit support to manage losses tied to troubled loan portfolios.
Bair also helped expand the FDIC’s authority under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, strengthening oversight of systemically important financial institutions.
EARLY CAREER & PUBLIC SERVICE
Before leading the FDIC, Sheila Bair held a series of influential public-sector roles. She served as Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and as Senior Vice President for Government Relations at the New York Stock Exchange.
Earlier in her career, she was a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and served in multiple senior policy and legal roles in the U.S. Senate, including as Research Director, Deputy Counsel, and Counsel to Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole. These positions established her expertise in financial regulation, market oversight, and legislative policy.
In academia, Bair later served as the Dean’s Professor of Financial Regulatory Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, contributing to research and education in banking regulation and public finance.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Sheila Bair has received widespread recognition for her leadership and public service. For her stewardship of the FDIC, she was awarded the John F. Kennedy Library’s Profile in Courage Award and was twice named by Forbes as the second most powerful woman in the world.
She topped The Wall Street Journal’s “50 Women to Watch” list and was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.”
In 2010, she appeared on the cover of TIME alongside Mary Schapiro and Elizabeth Warren as one of the “New Sheriffs of Wall Street.”
Additional honors include the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award, the Better Business Bureau Presidents’ Award, and recognition by The Washington Post and Harvard University as one of America’s top national leaders.
Bair has also been inducted into the University of Kansas Women’s Hall of Fame and has received multiple honorary doctorates from leading academic institutions.